StarFox 1: REFLECTIONS of PEPPY
by Kit-Karamak
Summary: PREQUEL to the Reflections Series! A story told by Peppy, starting the day Vixy died, peering into his life against the Aparoids, his family, his time as a General, how Star Fox got its name and much more! R&R! *Repairs made to continuity and typos!*
1. Chapter 1: A funeral for a friend

**Reflections of Peppy**

By Kit Karamak

AKA

Ken Weaver

StarFox, all characters, locations and objects (Arwing, Land Master, GreatFox, etc) are Trademark terms under the Copyright protection of Nintendo, 1993, 1997, 2003, 2005. All Intellectual Properties named hereafter are named for Entertainment Purposes only, and without expressed permission of the granted License of the aforementioned Franchise. You may not sell this story. The storyline (plot) belongs to Kenneth Weaver Junior, but if you were to steal it, who is he to argue, since he cannot copyright someone else's intellectual property, any how. If you do plan to redistribute this story and pretend that it is your own, at least have the decency to fix all my spelling and grammar mistakes, please. This fan fiction is written for the sole purpose of fictional entertainment and amusement; any and all relation to events of the past, present or future is merely coincidental. Wow, this sounds pretty official. NOT!

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A/N: _I thought that a short story about Peppy in the REFLECTIONS' series would rock. So here we go. I'm starting at Vixy's funeral. Fox is 8, Peppy is 32. Arwings haven't been invented yet; Pilots still fly the M-Class medium fighter (seen at the beginning of SF: Snes). R&R, let me know if I should keep going with this as well... _

_BTW, Vixy's family name is REINARD. However, there were so many typos in that comic, and the correct word is "reynard" that I just assume he made a typo and I'm going to leave it Reynard for the sake of planetary alignment... Enjoy responsibly! _

-kit

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PROLOGUE: _The Lamenting of the Elderly. _

**Peppy J. Hare placed the palm of his paw against** a glass case in which a set of wooden tobacco pipes rested in silence. His eyes lowered to the bifocal section of his glasses, to better read the small bronze plaque at the bottom. It was a dedication with his name on it; a gift from his Wing Commander. There were four pipes inside. In his other paw was a mug with the letter "P" emblazed upon the side. His deceased wife, Vivian, had helped him to break the habit of smoking cigars in his youth. He changed his speed, taking up the pipes for a while before giving up tobacco all together in favor of caffeine in his later years. Now even his daughter, Lucy, got on his case about the coffee and tea drinking. His attention returned to the antique pipe set and a smile touched the corner of his maw, just remembering his youth, back when Lucy was nothing more than a wicked thought in his head.

He could remember the day that James gave him the set for his birthday. He was thirty-four and James' son was about ten years old. Peppy didn't start using them until he was thirty-eight because he wanted to change his habit of smoking cigars but always kept them in their case in prime condition.

Adjacent to his collection was something far older. It was a team photograph of himself alongside James, Pigma and their engineer, Beltino Toad. He was thirty-three here. Besides that photograph was one a year and a half older. It was the last photograph of Jim and his wife, together. Peppy allowed his eyes to flutter shut. It was all a collection of memories but to Peppy, he could still see their faces and hear their voices when he lay down at night.

Tonight would be no different. Things were a little different now, with Jim's boy having his first major relationship with the slightly younger Extra Terrestrial from Cerinia, Krystal. She was stunning, however. Intelligent, fairly resourceful and a quick learner; she was everything he needed in a vixen. The telepathy was a bonus but she certainly made herself a comfortable spot in the pilot roster.

Peppy could only pray that Fox wouldn't follow _completely_ in his father's paw prints. After all, James McCloud experienced the loss of his life-mate at the overly young age of thirty-one. Fox was only eight years old. That was a day that would live in infamy. It was the immortal day that Jim's son lost his childhood. It was the first day of the ending of an age. It was the beginning of the end for peace on Corneria. It was the day that Doctor Oikonny had lost the last shred of his sanity.

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C H A P T E R _one_

**Peppy Hare, James McCloud, his son Fox, their wing mate, Pigma Dengar and** the team's engineering specialist, Beltino Toad all stood in silent reverence while the preacher read from the scriptures. Family friend Sergeant Pepper stood to the side, wearing a set of tinted aviator glasses. Across from them was a skulk of Vulpine that Jim recognized as the Reynard family.

The weather had forecasted a cliché funeral rain but a change of direction in the wind last night caused it to be an overly sunny day. For the first time ever, Jim was wearing dark sunshades and Peppy couldn't blame him. His eyes were redder than a cheap drunk from the tears and pilot wished to remain strong for his son.

Peppy's eyes panned across the mourning procession and stopped on a tall, broad shouldered man on the hill, about ten yards away. James saw the doctor as well and Peppy couldn't help but tighten his jaw. Nothing was proven yet but Jim had his suspicions.

Peppy placed a paw on his best friend's arm. In a quiet tone that wouldn't disturb the preacher's speech, he whispered, "Let it be, he's not worth it, Jimmy. Vixy wouldn't want you in a fist fight at her funeral." He spoke the words the way his wife would have said them, had she not been at home, in bed from an intense illness. Peppy tried to empathize what James must have been going through; losing a spouse and fathering a child as a single parent... He could only pray he would never have to endure such a debilitating loss.

"Peppy, Victoria Anne McCloud wouldn't have wanted a funeral," James replied in an equally respectful whisper. "I'm going to say something to him if he doesn't leave soon. He has just as much right to mourn the loss of someone he supposedly gives a damn about, just as much as the rest of us but not while I'm here. I don't care; he was told to stay away from us. I should have filed the restraining order. This is all probably my fault."

"Jim," Peppy scolded. It was just loud enough to cause Pigma and Beltino to look at the two. Little Fox didn't even bother to tear his eyes from the heavy wooded box. It was filled with objects and memorial offerings but there was no body inside; just her wedding dress. The blast left no remains, beyond ashes. It wasn't fair to the boy, Peppy knew as much. He nearly lost his fiancee, Vivian, in an automobile accident last year and knew Fox and James' loss was immeasurable, if not worse. Now an incomplete family was left in the wake of Doctor Oikonny's immature, lethal actions.

If it could be proven, Peppy knew his best friend would press charges as far as they could be taken. He could only hope. Andross Oikonny was an impulsive man and undeserving of the title, 'Weapons and Research Director.' Peppy turned his gaze back to his wing commander and added, "Remember the legalities. Please, have patience."

"I know the legalities," said James. "I'll never give up but remember who I am. I trust my instincts. Remember that, Peppy. Never give up and _always_ trust your instincts. It's my motto; you'd do well to make it your creed, too. I'll give that man five more minutes up on that hill before I go and say something to him."

Peppy cast a nervous gaze over the Reynard family. They would all be appalled if their in-law acted impetuous and immature at Vixy's funeral. She was strongly against violence and this was the wrong time and place to avenge a death, especially since Andross was only a suspect, not a proven murderer. Jim was still pissed.

Peppy was incredibly empathetic to the emotions of others but it didn't take a genius to see that James was beyond seething behind those sunshades. He placed his paw on the fellow pilot's shoulder. "Jimmy. Remember to mind yourself. Do it for Fox; do it for your mother-in-law." Hare's eyes slid across the plot to the Reynard family. Vixy's mom was a diabetic and slowly dying. While robbed of her daughter, she still had a slight comfort in knowing that Vixy was succeeded by a son. It was, however, still tragic; heart breaking to say the least.

Peppy's gaze returned to Doctor Oikonny, up on the hill. Ten yards was far too close for a murder suspect to be to their victim. James was exasperated; Peppy simply shut his eyes and listened to the preacher. He could only pray that Jim would make the right decision. Starting a fist fight with Andross Oikonny would cost him forty-eight hours in the brig, for sure.

The preaching ended. Fox clung to his father as the casket was lowered inch by heart wrenching inch into the depths of the Cornerian soil. It was a grave deeper than comprehension, only bested by the depth of love and heartbreak felt by this family; both sides. James knelt, allowing the eight year old kit to bury his face into his father's neck. Peppy's heart wrenched, seeing the uncomprehending child who had to learn how to deal with this incredible sense of loss and confusion.

The boy was reeling, Peppy could see it plainly. Even Pigma and Beltino struggled to keep the tears away, seeing the small boy struggling with this pain. Jim's soft cobalt eyes were hidden behind those darkly tinted sunshades and something told Peppy that he'd be seeing the black lenses more often. Even though James refused to wear sunshades in the past, it just seemed as though he was more comfortable behind them, now that she was gone.

The preacher gave a nod to James to signal that he was allowed to toss the flower in his left paw into the grave. He brought the stark red rose to his muzzle, brushing the soft, silky petals across his snout. Tears stained his fur, moistening his face just beneath the dark lenses, but there was no time for hesitation. He lifted his paw, tossing the flower forward. It landed in the center of a wreath that was fastened to the top of her casket, then he eased his left arm around his son, holding the boy in a complete embrace.

He was still knelt to Fox's level, but out of the corner of his eyes, he could still see the silhouette of Andross Oikonny. Peppy could see the man's heart growing from broken to cold. There was a hardening of the vulpine pilot's features. Hare reached into his pocket and took out a cigar, clipping off the end with a cutting tool, then flipping it around and putting one end into his teeth.

"Don't be a stupid voop," Peppy warned the fox, narrowing his gaze. He knew that Jim was gazing over his son's shoulder at the man up on the hill. Even with the sunshades to cover his eyes, there was a hateful expression on his muzzle. There was a touch of commotion as the funeral procession began to back away from the grave to allow the cemetery staff to push dirt over the casket but for the moment, James, Fox and Peppy didn't move an inch. There was too much animosity for Jim to budge. If he were to move right now, it would be in the direction of that hill, where Andross stood in silence.

"Fox," James said to his son, "I was wondering if you wanted to stay the night at Beltino's tonight, to play games with Slippy? You're off school 'till the end of the week for bereavement, I don't think Mister Toad minds if you stay. How's that sound?" To his question, young Fox nodded in silence.

James lifted his head so that Beltino was reflected in his shades. "Would you mind?"

"Not at all, Jim. He can ride with me, from here, if you prefer," said Beltino, adjusting his ascot, then reaching to fix his glasses with a nod. James gave Fox a hug then eased him towards Beltino.

Fox turned back to James quickly and whispered into his father's ear, "Be careful, Dad. I know you can beat him, man to man. Just be careful." With that, Fox turned to Beltino, letting himself become ushered away quickly. Peppy shook his head with a sigh, watching James straighten his dress jacket and tie, then begin to ascend the hill, approaching the figure upon it. Thirty feet; ten yards. It was too close, and yet the approach seemed too long, too time consuming.

James placed his paws out, catching Andross in the shoulder, guiding him down the other end of the hill, out of sight of the Reynard family. It was time to personally ascertain Andross' involvement in all of this. Validity of his actions would be garnished in the way he acted or spoke and James knew this. In his eyes, Andross Oikonny was still innocent for another few moments.

"Doctor Oikonny, strange to see you at the funeral, what keeps you so far from the funeral procession? Can't pay your respects at a more personal proximity?" James said in a flat tone. His paws were balled into fists and he refused to remove his sunshades.

"Ah," mused the scientist, "James McCloud. Thirty-one years old, ex-anti-gravity racing pilot. What a boy scout you are, joining the military and becoming a high ranking fighter pilot in a time of peace and prosperity. Aren't we all very proud of _you_? I don't mourn _your_ losses, McCloud. I only mourn _her_. I knew not to come near, since you took out a restraining order on me a week into your marriage."

"There's no restraint on those who have passed. You called and emailed her obsessively," James snapped, his ears laying flat. "She was hardly interested in a man who's two feet taller than her, who's married to his work, anyhow."

The two continued down the side of the hill, opposite of Victoria McCloud's grave stone. "My work will be the death of us all, at the rate I'm going. I wish she was around for me to apologize," he said. But in his voice was a sadness of intense guilt. Irony caused him to kill the wrong McCloud. He was obviously devastated. "She would never want the man who took her husband. But if I can't have her, why should you be allowed such an honor?" Wept the gorilla.

James' eyes went wide, even behind his shades Andross could see his brows lift and furrow above the obsidian lenses. McCloud began to shake with rage and from atop the hill, looking down upon the two, Peppy could see every detail of what was about to transpire.

Jim McCloud pivoted on his heel, taking the doctor's collar in his left paw and bringing his right paw into a full swing. The vulpine put his entire body weight behind the strike, landing the blow upon Oikonny's jaw so hard that Andross reeled back hard, completely losing his balance. Nearly three times the weight of James McCloud, the vulpine was so empowered by his adrenaline that he was able to pull Andross back up for another swift strike; fist to face in a catastrophic punch.

"Stupid Voop," Peppy muttered under his breath, watching his team leader pummel the doctor in a way no man Jim's size should have been able to manage. Andross was no pushover, however. The massive frame of a full sized Gorilla was an incredibly formidable foe, grasping at James and trying to throw him to the ground. Jim, however, was not about to let himself become ensnared in those massive palms.

He snapped his leg out, catching the scientist behind his right knee, then head butting the ape in his throat and simultaneously pushing his paws forward, to knock the doctor back before he could grasp the vulpine pilot. Andross groaned miserably, tumbling back. Losing his equilibrium, he hit the ground, rolling another few feet to the bottom of the hill, where the ground flattened out.

James still acted as if his wife was alive. He was on the other end of the hill, where his wife could not see his actions from her grave. The pilot pummeled Andross without mercy, lifting the ape back to his feet, to continue the brawl. His tuxedo jacket ripped at the back, between his shoulders from being over extended by physical exertion. Andross was far from finished and yet he couldn't even get a hit in. For the first time in his life, he felt afraid. Fear touched his heart. His eyes widened and yet his pupils shrank. Fear that he would never see Vixy Reynard again. Fear that her mate would take his life before his work was completed, fear that he would be alone forever.

Most importantly, Andross Oikonny was afraid to die here and now. He'd just committed murder and if his life was brought to an immediate end, he would be denied a favorable position in the after life. He'd already made the decision to figure out how to stay alive forever, to avoid such a fate, but now his life was in jeopardy for the first time. He was scared out of his wits.

He threw his arms up, defensively, trying to ward off James McCloud's volley of fisticuffs. Peppy watched in horror as the ape was beaten into submission, crying out for mercy, shielding his face with his powerful, massive arms. James was hysterical. He lost his sense of reality in this moment, trying to seek justice through means of revenge, anger and frustration. Here was the man that sought to end their marriage by trying to get between a man and his wife, who was now the man who ended their marriage by means of death.

Had James brought a weapon, Andross would be dead. It became obvious that Andross would not be able to defeat James McCloud alone. His drive was incredible. He wanted nothing more than to be vindicated for his actions by taking this moment to the very end. He wanted Doctor Oikonny to be dead in his paws.

Peppy dashed down the hill. There would be no way to continue the investigation if Andross was dead. Two murders don't cancel each other out and right now, Vixy's husband was far from the ability to reason logically.

"Jim!" Peppy shouted, rushing down the hill, trying not to stumble. James lifted his paw, cradling Oikonny's head in his left palm, ready to deliver the final strike. Andross' upper body was in McCloud's lap and the end for the Doctor was near. Everyone knew it. Peppy threw his weight forward, dropping his cigar in the grass. Diving into the fellow pilot, Peppy knocked McCloud to the ground, wrestling him away from Andross.

"He's going to get away!" James shouted in anger. His sunshades never even slipped down his muzzle. Peppy reached up and snatched them from his snout, growling in the vulpine's face.

"Jim," Peppy bellowed, "Knock it off!" He closed his right paw around James' muzzle, holding it shut tightly so that his friend didn't snap instinctively. James was, after all, a man of instincts and proud of that fact. "If you kill him, you both are guilty!"

"I don't care, let me finish the job!" James yelled loud enough for Andross to surly hear.

"If you murder him in cold blood, you'll NEVER see your wife on the other side," Peppy exclaimed, reaching his left paw out to join his right, to force James' muzzle shut so tightly that he couldn't even reply anymore. "Now stop struggling, Jim. There are laws in place to punish men like him. If he's definitely at fault, he'll be victim to the paws of justice; you're supposed to be the cool, composed leader of a fighter squadron, dammit!"

James' only reply was a throaty growl. With two strong paws around his muzzle, he couldn't reply at all. Peppy had his knee on McCloud's chest, holding the man down by keeping him off balance. With the pilot trying to get up, Peppy moved around, placing his other knee on Jim's forehead, perpendicular to his best friend, so that the pilot's face was between the rabbit's knees, using all his weight to keep McCloud's upper body pinned to the grass. Other than kicking wildly, there was nothing the fox could do.

"THINK OF YOUR SON," Peppy erupted. "If you KILL that man, WHO will RAISE your SON!" Those words must have been the antidote to James' rage. He suddenly stopped struggling, growing very still. His family may have not been complete anymore, but he did still have immediate family to consider.

Now Pigma was coming over the hill, to join his squadron. Andross was lying on his side, holding his jaw, which had been broken by the StarFox wing commander. Pigma hooked his fleshy hand under Andross' shoulder, hoisting him up to a sitting position. "Get up, old man. I suggest you get the hell out of here before James finishes what he started; I've never seen him leave business unfinished. C'mon now," said Dengar, helping the Doctor to his feet.

Andross put his hand upon Dengar's shoulder for support, coming to his feet. He leaned forward, so that his head was close to the pig's ear, whispering, "How much money do you want, I'll pay anything for your help."

Dengar turned his head, narrowing his gaze and replying so that only Andross could hear. "You don't have enough money for _my_ price. Now go before he comes to his senses. Peppy can only hold him down so long." With that, Pigma gave Andross a little shove in the other direction. "Go on, now," he said loud enough for the rest of the group to hear him.

Peppy continued to hold James down for another moment until Andross was able to hobble to the automobile down by the road. Peppy turned his head and shouted over his shoulder so that Andross was easily able to hear, "We didn't do this to protect _you_! We did this so that you go through the proper channels of the justice system. Next time we see you, I won't hold him back, so make sure it doesn't happen again!"

With that, Andross departed, driving the hover-car hard, heading for the cemetery gates, out to the main highway. He wasted no time to get out of the area. Peppy turned back to James, releasing him and sitting back on his haunches. "Damn, Jim. What're you trying to do? Sit in jail? Andross has an investigation but you killing him in the middle of a cemetery doesn't exactly give you the same luxury as him. You'd go right to jail," the rabbit groused.

"I ripped my rental tux jacket, I think," James muttered, placing a paw on his chest, where Peppy's knee had been pressing down so hard, that he had to wonder if he was going to bruise from it.

"Yeah, you sure did," Peppy replied, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a fresh cigar. Same as before, he used a small cutting tool to cut one end, then flipped it about, placing the other end to his lips and lighting the freshly cut flat end. "By the Goddess, Jim. C'mon, let's get you home." He turned to Pigma and nodded respectfully to his team mate. "I'm taking him home; I think we're done for the next two days. I'll talk to the Colonel - you know, John Pepper's uncle; take two days off."

Pigma nodded slowly, "Yeah I think we're all a little burnt. I'm sorry I didn't quite know her as well as you guys did. See you guys on Friday," he said, turning to walk away. Really, he didn't care about Vixy's death. He didn't know the lady and he only met her twice, once at a dinner party when James got promoted, the other time when she came on base to bring her husband lunch.

The cold hard truth was simple: Pigma was more interested in the paycheck than the job. He was more interested in the reward than the co workers, let alone responsibilities involved in his job. With only a few years left, the team was already discussing options to end their military career and go mercenary. It was talks that were in the works, nothing in stone, just yet.

Peppy placed his left paw beneath James' arm, half-way around the fox's waist. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and McCloud was feeling overheated and sick at his stomach. He was getting the shakes and a momentary bout with dizziness was making things complicated. Peppy rolled the cigar across his teeth, so that it was on the other side of his maw, away from James.

"I've got to hand it to you though," Peppy said with a nervous chuckle. "You kicked his tail, Jim."

A droll nod was the reply, but as James thought about it, it was the first time that Peppy actually made a comment like that. A grin began to tug at the corner of his muzzle and that began to melt into a smile. A chuckle suddenly erupted from the wing commander and Peppy broke into soft laughter as well.

"Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?" James mused, half clinging to Peppy until the junkie buzz-kill sensation passed. The two friends laughed softly about it, while heading through the grass, back across the cemetery to where they'd parked. The procession of vehicles had half departed, heading for a memorial service for the Reynard family. James swayed back towards the grave of his wife, wanting a personal word first.

Peppy guided him towards the grave, then stood back to watch. McCloud knelt down by the half filled hole, while a man in a backhoe worked dirt over the grave, occasionally using the back of the scoop to pack the dirt.

"I kept my vows," Jim began. "To have and to hold, I recall having my wife every morning and night. When we didn't make love, I held you dearly. For rich or for poor, I recall when we were first married, before Fox was born. You stood by me while I worked through the ranks until I was finally making real money. We were so strong, together. In sickness and in health; it was my esteemed pleasure to get up at 3 am and hunt down the food of your craving while you were pregnant. Nothing gave me more pleasure than to be your husband," he continued, breaking into a lachrymal voice, but clearly enunciating each word even through the break in his usually confident tone.

Peppy remained silent. The hare tightened his fists, watching his best friend pour his heart out to his wife's empty grave. He spoke as if she was there and he spoke out loud as if she was alive to hear it. "Victoria," James continued, "Vixy," he then said, so that his words to her were more personal, "I love you. I'll love you even after death brought us to part. But promise me you'll always walk by my side so that we can both provide for our son, I can't do it alone; it wouldn't be fair to do it alone, not for him. No boy should be raised by just one, unless it's all that parent can provide. I know you'll help me. I know you'll watch over us... I love you so much," he sobbed, tears welling up in his eyes.

He fought to keep them from spilling out. He looked down at his left paw, where Peppy had placed the sunshades back into his possession some time after the fight. He didn't even remember when it happened, exactly. They just sort of appeared there. He placed them upon his muzzle and yet teardrops spilled down beneath the ebony lenses, saturating his fur.

He crawled forward, once the backhoe began to pull back. He crawled in pity through the dirt knowing there was no one beneath the grave to disrespect by this action. He embraced the cold hard tombstone, which scratched his face. He scraped his wrists and neck, pressing himself against the stone, the way he once embraced his wife.

"I held her this way, the morning before she died. We spent over an hour in our bed as man and wife," James wept pitifully. "We were invincible and never ending on that day; I wish it was me, but I would never want her to be alone. I would never want her to raise Fox as a single mother or be kneeling here with her heart broken. Why did this have to happen?" he demanded; words muffled against the cold, unloving stone in which his face was tightly pressed.

"Why does the picture-perfect family always become the doomed family!" he said, drawing his left paw back, ready to strike the stone. Peppy wanted to run forward to grab him by the arm, but at the same time, had the respect to leave James to his grieving. "Why does this sort of thing always happen to the couple who never argued, never disagreed, and never had any problems! Why does the world always throw misery at the happy!" He wailed in a guttural plea of knowledge from the Almighty.

"James," Peppy scolded, "It's a test of our faith and our will. She was needed in the afterlife; it's the only way she'll be with you at the hour of our most important accomplishments. I can't let you blame the Creator," he said, shaking his head. The thirty-two year old rabbit took the cigar from his lips, lifting one foot to put the stogie out against his heel, then folded his arms with a sigh.

James struck the grave stone again, bruising and scraping his knuckles, beneath the fur of his paw. His next word was the vituperative utterance of obscenity. The softly muttered curse caused Peppy to frown. It was rare that James lowered himself to simple swearing. The break in his will caused Peppy's heart to break a little more, watching his best friend in such anguish.

"Peppy...?" James' voice was weak, melancholy. Peppy approached his friend, kneeling besides him, and putting his arm around the pilot. "Peppy, you're my boy's God Father. Please, I need help raising him, I can't do it alone. He needs two parents, that's what's natural," he moaned softly, lifting the sunshades to wipe his eyes with the back side of his left paw.

"Jim," Peppy eased into an off balance hug, since the vulpine was still clinging to the concrete grave marker, with his face still pressed to the epitaph. The wing commander's body was aching, his chest was heaving and yet he didn't care. The intransigent, cold rock against his fur and flesh was still closer to his wife than anything else could bring him at this moment. He felt crushed inside.

Peppy gently pried him away from the stone, pulling the sobbing shell-of-a-man to his feet. "Incomplete," James muttered to his friend. "I'm incomplete and it's all Oikonny's fault."

"Yes but today wasn't the time to get vengeance," Peppy said with a sigh, "Don't make revenge a form of fuel. Base his punishment on something less emotional. You can feel vindicated after it's said and done."

"But I'm," James just dropped his head. After a moment of awkward silence, he cleared his throat and continued, "What am I going to do? Where do I go from here? What happens now?"

"Do you want my honest opinion or the opinion of your friend?" Peppy asked politely.

"Be honest," James demanded with an almost callous voice.

"Call your lawyer. You just beat the snot out of another man, who's not legally been proven guilty, yet. Call your lawyer and be ready in case he tries to press charges," Peppy grunted with a frown. "C'mon Jim, let's get you home," Peppy said, taking his friend across the grass towards the last remaining automobile that was part of a long line of cars only an hour prior.

"And what am I going to do about Fox?" James shook his head with a sigh.

Peppy hugged his friend tightly, then opened the passenger door for him. "Impress your wife; she's watching from above, do your best. She'll be standing besides you when you need that extra help. Other than that, all you can do is pray for Luck's Paw."

James slipped into the passenger seat, pulled the door shut, replaced his sunshades and reclined the seat a little bit. His eyes fluttered shut and he tried to relax his body. His muscles were aching. His joints were screaming. The scratches on his face, wrists and forearms even hurt to some extent. He would surely need some aspirin and caffeine to rush the pain relief, followed by a shot or two of bourbon to take the edge off the pain in his heart. After all, Fox was staying the night with his school friend, Beltino's son. Tonight would be the night to drink responsibly or, for that matter, irresponsibly.

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A/N: _There's a lot more I can do with this story, starting from here and running until the day Fox proposes to Krystal. Don't expect a chapter a day on this one until heck, I dunno... when my other "Reflections" stories are finished. :) I hope you all enjoy it, thus far. It should be interesting to see the world through the eyes of a young man, a middle aged man and an old man. Let me know if I should keep going with this one or if it's a lame idea... since everyone keeps writing stories about James, I figured writing one about Peppy would be more unique. _

_:D_

_-Kit_


	2. Chapter 2: James' near death experience

A/N: (This note was originally written when I started writing this chapter…. IN EARLY NOVEMBER.) _Wow. I thought for sure, I'd have someone say, "GOD SO LAME, MAKE IT STOP!" anyhow, I dunno if anyone noticed that in the first chapter, which I wrote as soon as I got home at 5:30am from a trip to Richmond to hang out with some furry pals, but… I wrote that James was blaming himself that Andross got too close because he **didn't** take out a restraining order…. And Andross, shortly thereafter, mentions that he stayed away as much as possible after the marriage began, because there was a restraining order… which I wrote at work, the next morning… Blah. I MEANT to have James say, early into the story, "It's my fault because I CANCELED the restraining order. Figured he didn't need it anymore, so he had it lifted. MY BAD! I typed it wrong, like a DORK. I also got very "he said she said" without properly identifying because I was split in my attention at work, at my new desk up in the front, where there's just so much commotion… I miss sitting in the back corner of the office. God that ruled. Any how, ALL THESE STORIES WILL TIE INTO OTHER REFLECTIONS' STORIES. As we see Fox McCloud grow through the eyes of a trusted family friend, we will come to learn things that you don't usually see about McCloud and the other team members, that the ever-empathetic Peppy J. Hare learns. We'll also learn about Peppy. Who is he? What's the "J" stand for? What's "Peppy" short for? What kind of hare is he? WHY does he quit cigars, then pipes by the time he's an old man? What happened to him during the Aparoid Assault when he trashed an Arwing to save General Pepper? What happened to him when he slammed the GreatFox into the Aparoid homeworld? What happened to him when buying the second GreatFox during my Reflections Of The Future story? Why did he never remarry? And most importantly, what kind of **un**boring things did he actually dabble in, during the 8 year silence after the Lylat war ending, after Falco left for the latter 3.5 years.  
If this story seems to be popular enough, I'll do more Reflections Series stories about other characters. Wolf, Panther, Andross, Falco… If enough people beg, I'll do one for Fox. The reason it seems pointless to follow the main hero protagonist around is because you play him in all the games… furthermore, 99percent of the stories on fanfictionDOTnet are about Fox, since he's the main character… the point of my Reflections Series is to make everyone ELSE the main character and let you watch Fox through their eyes. Krystal is falling head over heels in love.. but what about a story of jealousy, pain, suffering and loss…Panther maybe?Wolf O'Donnell is next, after this one. I have a feeling it will be my favorite. I love foxes but as far as the game goes, Wolf is an awesome character. He may be a lot like Vegeta from DBz but lord knows, while Goku was my favorite character (although trunks is pretty cool too, but I wasn't a hardcore DBZ fan or anything, just caught a lot of episodes at 4pm and midnights for a while), I like Wolf far more… because he has this sense of "Pirate's Honor" about him. That rules. He's also more of a, "Here, I'll do it myself," kind of guy, where Vegeta is more of a "hey, slave woman, fetch me my hand towel!" kind of guy (talking to bulma lol). Anyhow, I've been working a lot to finish Reflections Of The Future and Lament of Carmelita (sly cooper fandom), so .. yeah.. just having a little fun with this one.. giving Peppy a spicy past. Woot!_

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_x-_

C H A P T E R _two_

**A four-star General of the fleet at retirement, **Peppy Hare ran his fingertips over the patches and ribbons from his tour of duty. He gently touched his thumb against a purple heart that he'd received during his escape attempt on Venom. The memory flooded back but something caught his eye, which distracted him from his reverie.

A photograph of Vixy was inside of a glass case. It would eventually go to Fox, but the scrap of paper was what James used to keep in his cockpit when he flew. He nearly lost it once, but even in the face of danger, he risked his self well being to protect the photograph.

It happened the day that Peppy first executed the maneuver, which was recently used to save General Pepper during the Aparoid Attack. Ever since that day, so many years ago, when using it to stop Jim from a free-fall situation, Peppy suggested it to Fox on multiple occasions to get people off his tail or to get behind an enemy; the loop, or _somersault_, turned into a life saver for Peppy many times.

His eyes seemed to soak in the image of Vixy and the old remnant of heartache from back in the days that he had ached for James due to her loss. His eyes fluttered shut for just a moment, taking in the images of the reflected feedback from his past.

* * *

**Peppy shoved Jim down **onto the living room sofa. It had been several weeks since the funeral for Vixy and just as predicted, James spent a day and a half in the brig. The fact of the matter was, Andross was still on military contract. The doctor went back to repairing an android pig, somewhat in the likeness of Dengar, only not as broad in the torso. Herbert aside, Andross was spending a lot of his time sulking.

Andross Oikonni had a great deal of grief in his life that caused him to become somewhat emotional as far as anger was concerned. His brother passed away from overly unnatural causes and as the god parent, Andross became the direct benefactor of a nine year old named Andrew. The boy was struggling with the death of his father but his marmoset mother was even worse off. She simply didn't want anything to do with a half breed gorilla.

Andross was told if he was found guilty of murder, that the penalty was banishment. That would force Andrew into an orphanage and the boy's Uncle already vowed to take him away from Corneria if gets sent away… some how, at least.

However, none of that mattered at the moment. Right now, James was on the sofa and Peppy had his arms folded, shaking his head, slowly. "No, I refuse, Jim. We're staying here. I don't think you're fit for duty. What did Colonel Pepper say?"

"Right now, I don't care," James snapped. Peppy shook his head, sitting down besides his best friend. Once upon a time, decades prior, it was absolutely backwards for a rabbit to befriend a carnivore but these two had been best friends since 15, when they first met. "He granted me flight permission. Also, he said something about a promotion," James finally muttered. "Seems like only two years ago he was Sergeant. You really start to move swiftly when you switch over to Officer."

"Yeah," Peppy chuckled, glad to see that James was getting his mind on something else for the moment. "I can't think of anyone more deserving. Have you met Pepper's wife?"

"Nah," James shook his head slowly. "But it never ceases to amuse me that you and he have the same name."

"Sorta," Peppy shrugged. "His last name happens to be my first name." It was certainly true. Pepper Jack Hare. His mother's maiden name, Rabbit, and his maternal Grandfather's name, Jack, made for a clever joke of his name. Pepper Jack, or Jack Rabbit, the Hare usually went by Peppy to make things easier on everyone. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his name; after all, Jim named his son Fox. That was far more popular as a surname than a first name, to be sure.

"What about when our tour ends?" James asked. "If we become Mercenaries, we'll need a ship," he added thoughtfully.

"It's not exactly tomorrow," Peppy noted. It was actually 6 and a half years away. Peppy and James had done a twelve year service and they were more than half way through it, but Pigma did a four year service, and still had two years left, plus another two which could either be served in the military or in the reserves. "What's got your mind on that?"

"I'm thinking ahead, Peppy," Jim explained, "We need to put a down payment on a ship and pay it off as we go along. That way when we no longer have a paycheck, we won't have a ship payment either. I was thinking, I could name it after my son."

"The Fox?"

James formed a moue of disgust. It sounded drab. He shrugged in thought then said, "How about _Great_Fox. Kinda has a familiar sounding ring to it."

"So it does," mused the hare. "So how is Fox holding up?"

"He's a trooper," Jim sighed softly. "He's in class right now for another two hours, then he's at the sitter until 1700 hours. Wanna get some over time?"

"The sitter? You mean the Toad Residence? That's awfully swell of Beltino's wife," Peppy said, standing up and giving a tug at the bottom of his uniform shirt.

Jim stood up as well, straightening his uniform of wrinkles then nodded in reply, adding, "She's a simple woman. Nice lady. She never gets involved in Beltino's work, but I think that's exactly what Beltino needs in a woman, you know?"

"I think I know what you mean," Peppy chuckled, walking to the door and opening it for his best friend.

The walk across the base was a short one. They both set up a clearance code to take out two M-Class fighters for the afternoon and made their way out across the runway. "Think we should call Dengar?" Peppy mused thoughtfully.

"Nah, we're salary. Overtime doesn't pay so I doubt he'll be interested," James replied, taking a metallic wheel ladder and rolling it over towards his fighter. He glanced over his shoulder and grinned, seeing Sergeant Pepper approaching, then stopped to salute. Peppy came over from his own fighter just to see what was going on, saluting the pilot officer

"Hey John," McCloud said, offering a paw.

Pepper exchanged handshakes with McCloud, reaching his other paw to pat Peppy's shoulder. "How's it going boys? Two of my best pilots on the force with more drama than some holovision sitcoms. I want both you boys to know, I've put in for a promotion with my uncle for you both."

"Speaking of promotions, I hear you're up for another yourself," Jim said.

"That I am," Pepper replied with a chuckle. He reached his paw back up to his aviator sunglasses and took them off for a moment, glancing to Peppy then to James. "Listen, I've got to talk to you both, especially you, James. How about a beer after you get back from your flight? On me. It's pretty important."

"If it's important, why don't we talk now?" Jim said with a nod from his wingman.

"I suppose," the hound mused, looking around furtively then turning back to the two pilots, standing besides Jim's M-Class fighter. "It's like this, boys," he said, pushing the shades back up over his nose. "There was an audit last night. We learned some things about Andross Oikonni that will help your case, Jim. It's nothing I can talk about directly, but the Military will be informing your lawyer to bring it up so that we can lead in to trying him on something else in a separate case. It's all bureaucratic hoop-la, but that's how they're handling it. They want him out of here, quick.

"Does he even know yet?" Jim pondered aloud. Pepper simply shook his head in a negative reply. "Where do we stand?" James asked.

"It's difficult to say. Everything is speculation right now. I'll fill you in, later boys. Enjoy your flight hours," John said, offering each pilot a lollypop with a grin. "The new semester starts soon - going to finish up Officer's School real soon, y'know. I may be a little busy starting in two weeks - just saying." Both members of the squadron blinked then took the sucker into their paw and bid their farewells.

A short time later, they found themselves in the depths of space, having just broken the atmosphere. James unwrapped the lolly pop, blinking at the fact there was a message written inside. He opened a communications channel to Peppy, saying, "Hey, Hare. Secure Channel two-niner-five, now."

Peppy switched over to the secure communication, punching in the numbers, then hailed Jim, "What's up?"

"Open your lolly pop, man." Jim's voice held a tone of serious concern. Peppy blinked but an order was an order and it sounded serious for some reason. Peppy did so, shoving the sucker into his muzzle.

"Yeah?"

"The wrapper?" James waited for a reply, was his the only one?

"Is a wrapper, nothing special Jim. What's going on?" Peppy said speaking over a lolly pop in his mouth. He wasn't quite sure where this was going.

"I've got a message written on the inside of my wrapper. It says to jettison my cargo hold in the center of the Meteo Asteroid field. John signed it. It's an order. Then it says, "_PS: Stay clear after you dump the hold_." And it's kinda creepin' me out."

"My suggestion is this," Peppy said, shaking his head slowly, "Just do it. If you get in trouble for losing your ordinance, we'll have Beltino make it look like a electrical malfunction. I trust Pepper; we both do."

Jim sighed audibly over the public channel. "Moving to sector zero-four-zero... A malfunction indicator just lit up on my dash," he said in a somewhat monotone voice. For James, however, it was a flair for the dramatic.

"Which one?" Peppy came up besides James' fighter.

"Jump drive. I won't be able to jump out of the area," Jim replied with a frown. "I'll do the jettison, then we'll high tail it out of here. Just in case, stay at the edge of the asteroid field, I've just got this weird feeling about this."

"Jim, if you need backup for some reason," Peppy started but was immediately interrupted by his team leader.

"Remember what I said about following your instincts? They've never done me wrong yet, pal. Sit tight, that's an order," Jim said in a curt tone. He punched his afterburner and headed into the asteroid field, leaving Peppy to sit alone for a few moments. The problem with the asteroid field was, if two fighters got separated, the reception of their communications wasn't always optimal. They had to have a measure of proximity when in the rock field, to keep the radio chatter going.

With Jim disappearing into the field, Peppy lost contact with him completely. The rabbit bit into the lolly pop, crunched up the pieces and finished it off. Then, to get the overly sweet taste out of his maw, he took out a dry cigar, cut one end off, and just chewed on it, unlit.

"One of these days, I'll switch to a pipe," he mused to himself. His cigar days were growing to a near close. A few moments of uneasy silence went by. Peppy glanced at his watch then shifted his weight in the cockpit seat, just waiting. Suddenly there was a massive flash that illuminated the core of the asteroid field.

It was as bright as Solar, the system's main star. The asteroids caused the flash to look as though it was a sheet of white with holes cut in it. Peppy was quick enough to look down and shut his eyes, as soon as the flash began. He instinctively reached for the communications panel, punching in the code for James' fighter.

"Jim! Jim come in, respond please!" Peppy frowned. Silence ensued.

"Jim, this is Peppy, what's your status?" No reply to his message. "James McCloud, I'm coming in there if you don't reply, over?" Nothing. Peppy opened a channel with the control tower, "This is Peppy J. Hare with Alpha Squadron. My wing commander has dropped off of sensors and is out of communications range. There was a flash inside the Asteroid Belt, I need permission to perform a patrol and I'm requesting Search and Rescue to be placed on stand by."

"Captain Hare, this is control, we read you. We do not have Major McCloud on our display, what is his last known location?" Came the reply of someone back at the base. They were obviously an experienced controller, it was in their tone of voice.

"He went into the Asteroid Field, saying something about a malfunction on his dash," Peppy explained, continuing, "He said his jump drive was down and something about needing to jettison, before going into the field. He ordered me to stay at the perimeter. Permission to patrol the field. What are you guys seeing down there?"

"I'm no technician but from here," said the controller down in the airfield tower, on Corneria, "It sort of resembles a collapse."

"His fighter collapsed? I don't understand, can you be more specific?" Hare asked, keeping his calm. Either way, his heart was pounding. His paws gripped the flight yoke tightly.

"A collapsed star, only much smaller," replied the woman. "This is _Ensign_ Roland. I'm going to guide you into this, but if I tell you to get out of there, you've GOT to do it, understand?"

"Understood. Entering the asteroid field now. I'm going to divert power from my offensive weapons," Peppy explained. "I want to split it between my shields and communications panel, stand by." He navigated into the rock belt, using his free paw to punch up the numbers necessary to divert power then split it and sent the programmed energy split two different ways.

"This is Ensign Roland, it is advised that you stay out of the asteroid field, so if you're going to continue this mission, I am only authorized to provide what support I can if you fail to adhere to the command. It comes from the Lieutenant General on command." It was all legalities. He was offering help but in a way that would ensure Roland would stay out of hot water, so this entire thing didn't come under investigation later.

"I'm going to move ahead with the search patrol. I've got fluctuating gravity readings showing up on my sensors. Everything is kinda hay-wire," the hare explained. Peppy noted that his sensor readout was acting up and his scope was simply spinning which gave him no indication of where the asteroids were, other than to use his eyes.

"Roger that, your refusal to stay clear of the asteroid belt has been documented, Captain," said Roland. "I'm going to get you through this, _Cowboy_," the Ensign said, referring to Peppy's old flight handle he used a few years ago. "I've got a void on my scope at the center of the belt, so try and avoid that area. We'll call that ground zero, pilot. Now, flank the blank on the left."

Peppy rolled to the port side, glancing out his starboard window. He could see asteroids picking up speed and heading towards the gaping hole in the center of the belt. Peppy opened a split channel, "James McCloud, what is your current status, please respond?" Nothing. "If you hear me, I'm going to open all channels at once, stand by." A few buttons were punched and the desired objective was achieved.

Peppy could hear static on his com-channel, from all the subspace and short band waves that went through his craft. Just static. "C'mon, James. Where are you? Fox is going to need you, Jim. Please just reply."

"We've located something that's of an unnatural metal alloy in the belt, Captain. Is your fighter outfitted with a harpoon tow cable or tractor beam?" Roland didn't mention the fact that it might be distorted from the massive electro-magnetic pulse residual in the immediate area. The officer just kept her furry fingers crossed.

"I've got a low yield tractor beam on my ship but I don't know if it'll pull something of equal mass to my own fighter," Peppy said. Of course, he was going to try it. There was no way he was going to just idly sit while James was in trouble. Punching his afterburners, Peppy headed for the coordinates that was given by Roland, back at Control. His main visual proximity sensor scope continued to spin uselessly.

It didn't take but a moment or so. James ship was drifting through the void, powered down, heading in the same direction as the asteroids that were floating towards the center. Peppy transferred powered from his shields into his thrusters and tractor beam, then pulled up alongside the drifting fighter, peering into James' canopy.

McCloud was alive, he was injured, though. Crimson fur was matted down over his brow, which ran down over his muzzle, dripping off the side of his jaw. Peppy tried to hail him again but his communications were apparently blown. Peppy rolled over, so that the fighters were now belly to belly and he activated the beam.

Powering up his engines, they crept at a very low speed away from the suction of the collapsed gravity well. Peppy quickly realized that if James didn't have any power, his air would run out very soon. He punched the afterburners as well, picking up slight speed, but the weight of both fighters and the tug of the gravity from behind, made it difficult.

It took over eight minutes to move two miles, nearing the edge of the asteroid field. "This is Peppy Hare, Control. I have located and rescued Major James McCloud and require immediate medical personnel to be ready on the runway. Priority one, this is a medical emergency."

"This is Ensign Roland. They're going to clear the runway for you. I see that your ship is belly to belly with the other fighter," said the woman over the radio, "How do you propose to land?" she asked.

"Have tow cables and a soft landing mat on the edge of the runway. I'm going to set him down on that," Peppy explained. The fighter was no chopper, but he knew he could make due. The fighters picked up speed as they grew further from the asteroid belt.

Peppy reset his power from the communications grid to what it normally was, then transferred it to his shields, expanding the bubble to cover both ships. No sooner did he finish that task did they break into the atmosphere, surrounded by a scarlet glow.

Inside James' cockpit, the fox had pulled out his emergency oxygen mask, and his air would last another few minutes. Peppy maneuvered the ships down towards the Capital City, heading for the main military base at the center of town. A small gray patch grew larger until Peppy could make out the details of what section of the runway cluster was actually clear.

The dual fighters, belly to belly, moved through the light cloud patches, heading for the runway, below. Inside Jim's fighter, he had his paws upwards, holding against the canopy, due to the gravity. His chest was tight against the seatbelt harness.

He glanced down, through the canopy glass, staring at the world below, through the light red splotch where his head had connected with the glass from the malfunction of his ejection seat. It was obvious the cockpit didn't shatter and if there wasn't a headrest on the back of his seat, he'd have surly been killed by a head concussion.

He could see the tarp on the ground and the flashing lights of the emergency crews that lined the runway. Turbulence consumed his fighter, which grew in weight once they entered the atmosphere of Corneria.

"My tractor mount is growing unstable," Peppy called over his radio. Jim couldn't hear, due to his controls having powered down. Ensign Roland gave instructions to stand by, but it was too late. The M-Class fighter was too heavy to tractor into the atmosphere and due to passing through the thermosphere, and the tractor cannon was beginning to overheat to boot.

Before Peppy could react further, the cannon shorted out and his fighter bucked violently, losing its cargo. He didn't have a further thought in his mind. Peppy knew one thing… to become a cushion for his friend. The hare pulled back on his stick as hard as he could. The M-class fighter pulled into a loop. Once his nose was facing straight down, he punshed the afterburners, racing past Jim's fighter.

Inside the cockpit, James McCloud narrowed his eyes, watching the other fighter loop about, beneath his own. As he'd told Peppy to do, the rabbit was trusting his instincts and living in the moment. Why had this happened in the first place? It started as overtime. Why did it take Pepper to leave a secret message about jettisoning his standard equipment cargo? What sort of contacts did Andross have, that the explosive passed the standard pre-flight check?

The M-Class beneath him, pulled its nose up, leveling out. Jim's fighter continued to plummet, inverted, until the top of his fighter connected with the top of Peppy's fighter, weighing it downwards. Beyond the fuselage, James could see the ground rushing up to meet them.

In that instant, Peppy and James locked their gaze, through their canopy windows. Peppy kept his paws on the flight controls, keeping his fighter stable and level, so that the other fighter didn't spill off either side. The bottom of Peppy Hare's plane slammed into the emergency cushion tarp, crushing the landing gear, which went flying off upon impact.

James' fighter slid forward, sliding down to the tarmac, scraping across the ground, causing the canopy shield to crack even more. His oxygen supply was beginning to run low and the air was thinning out. Logically, he realized that the fighter was probably on fire, which consumed oxygen through the vents that pumped air in through the oxygen generator inside the frame, behind the cockpit.

Emergency crews dashed towards the site, immediately hosing the crash in the super-light chemical liquid which, due to being lighter than jet fuel and oil, covered and smothered the burning components, dousing the flames. The soapy liquid began to leak in through the new crack in the glass, creating a puddle within the cockpit glass, just slightly.

It's nauseatingly sweet odor caused Jim to flinch. He nearly gagged over it. "C'mon," he pleaded softly, "Don't let me burn alive in this damn thing." Fire fighters dashed out across the runway, hosing both fighters down, especially Peppy's ship where fire had started from the overheated tractor beam emitter.

Another crew of canine men ran up from the other side of James' fighter, wheeling over a machine with pressure cables leading to a set of metallic jaw-like clamps. James could just barely hear them barking commands at one another.

"Get the Jaws of Life on that one first, it's upside down; go in through the side!" These words were followed by another command, from another engineer or fire fighter, directing a group to help Peppy out of his cockpit.

Peppy was lifted out of his fighter and brought to the runway by a pair of fire fighters. No sooner was he put on the ground, did the rabbit sprint over to where they were cutting the side of James' M-Class fighter open on the side. Two guys in fire-protection suits pulled the vulpine from his cockpit. James struggled against them, reaching back in through the hole ripped into his craft, so he could snatch a photograph of his wife, the lollypop wrapper and his sunglasses, which were hanging from his flight yoke.

Once he secured them, he allowed his body to be jerked back by the two men that were trying to pull him out of there. He quickly flipped the sunshades up over his face and stashed the picture and wrapper into one of the pockets on his flight suit. He was ushered away from the crash so that emergency crews could clear the runway of debris.

"By the Maker," Peppy grumbled as he came up alongside of McCloud, "What the hell happened back in the asteroid belt?"

"I have no idea; the core detonated. All my systems went dead," the vulpine explained, adding, "To top it all off, Peppy? My cockpit pod wouldn't break free of my fighter and the ejection chair tried to throw me right out into space. Fate kept that canopy from cracking all the way."

"There's going to be an investigation," Peppy said, still chewing on the stogie he'd put into his muzzle back before the whole thing started. He was finally on the ground; he pulled a lighter out of his chest pocket and lit the cigar. "I'm quitting next week. Maybe. I think I'll move to a pipe for a while when I finally do quit."

"Last time I smoked a cigar," James mused aloud, as the two were escorted towards Central Command for a debriefing, "Was when Fox was born. I think I'll have just _one_ more, the day we buy GreatFox."

"You're really into that name, huh?" Peppy chuckled softly.

"I've even got a prospective ship picked out," James replied with a subtle grin. "It's a dreadnaught class vessel; a little pricy but if we take good care of it, it will take good care of us," James explained with a soft chuckle.

"Sounds like you're excited," Peppy mused. "Why not tell me this earlier?"

"I honestly planned to tell you while we were flying. That's the whole point of taking you up there, just the two of us," James said, shrugging his shoulders slightly. He patted Peppy on the shoulder and grinned. "One second." He then turned away from the hare and both escorts, placing his paws on either side of a trashcan just outside the Central Command building. Dipping his head into the receptacle, the vulpine opened his muzzle, closed his eyes and allowed his stomach to do what it had to do, to stave off the near-death situation.

After a moment, he wiped the backside of his muzzle with a grunt, using his sleeve, then returned to the coterie. "Sorry. I think the smell of that stuff they were using on the fire really got to my stomach."

"Not to mention the fact that you weren't used to the sensation of the G-forces on your stomach, inverted," one of the military fire-squad members said, adding, "And nearly dying. Your fighter was thrown around a good bit, Major. I'm really impressed you walked away from that. It must have been one hell of a malfunction, Sir."

James nodded and said, "The black box recorder should tell us some interesting things, to say the least. Unless, of course, the blast wiped it out, the way it wiped out my power."

Sergeant Pepper quickly approached the two pilots, putting his paws on their shoulders, once they came in through the doors. "You two, with me," he told them before turning to the escorts. "You guys are dismissed. Move out." He then turned back to James and Peppy. "Paperwork time. My office, let's go."

The trio made a bee-line for John Pepper's door. He open the door for Jim and Peppy, letting them through, then stepped in behind them, pulling it shut. The frosted glass on the door had his name in bold black lettering, which was inside-out on the inner-part of the glass.

"I'm glad you got my note," Pepper mused, clearly relieved. "We couldn't reveal our intelligence maneuvers in getting that information because it would cause our leak to get away. We're working up a solution to catch him red-handed to better expose Andross Oikonni. We want to do this soon because it will be brought in to play against his character traits when we nail him for what he's done to Vixy. Then he'll be tried separately for that offense."

"You realize he's going to see this as a personal attack," Peppy noted, thoughtfully. "If not against Corneria, then definitely against James."

"Let's worry about that bridge if we need to cross it," Pepper replied, shaking his head slowly. "At this point? If he's guilty for both offenses, he'll be completely banished. Then he's out of our hair for good."

"And if he winds up as a refugee on another planet, like Zoness or Macbeth, who is notorious for being indifferent towards criminals?" Jim asked.

"What about Venom?" Peppy asked.

"If he winds up on Venom," Pepper returned with a shrug, "Who cares? They're so far from technologically advanced that their economy is non-existant. They wouldn't trust an ape anyhow."

"Isn't he rumored to be working on some sort of military mind control device?" James scoffed, narrowing his eyes as he slid into a chair. Peppy sunk into another seat, adjacent to the vulpine pilot.

"Telekinesis amplification _and_ a brainwashing machine that can make people either docile or aggressive. But the effects aren't permanent," Pepper said, adding, "It's been canceled. He's been trying to clone living beings also, but we've put a stop to his research in that department as well. It won't be long before we've got him off the planet then that will be the end of it."

"I sure hope so," Peppy replied with a soft sigh. "Jim's court case is just a short time away. Right now, it looks pretty much in the bag."

"I've been assured that it will be. This guy is off his rocker. If I ever saw Andross, he'd be worse off than he was after the funeral," Jim snapped, looking down at the floor.

"Major," Peppy grumbled, trying to remind his friend and commanding officer to stay professional."

"Yeah," McCloud said with a slight shrug. "Andross and I need to have a private, one-on-one conversation."

"Not going to happen," Pepper said with a thoughtful frown and a shake of his head. "And not to change the subject but am I to understand that you guys have plans to purchase a dreadnaught class vessel for personal use?"

James and Peppy glanced at one another, blinking in shock. Before either one of them could offer a defensive comment, Pepper grinned and shook his head slowly. "Just know that I'm not against it. I can help you guys get started by qualifying you two for a military franchise loan from the government. Through my Uncle, of course. But it'll be a few years before you're ready for that sort of thing."

"Any help you can offer," Peppy replied, "Would be helpful, Sir."

There was a knock at the door and Pepper reached for his callbox. "Sergeant John Pepper's office," he said into the intercom.

"Someone here to see Major McCloud. It's his son, Sir." The reply was from one of the dog escorts that worked downstairs.

"I... Let him in," Pepper said, shaking his head slightly. The door opened and young Fox McCloud came in, still in his school uniform. The door was shut behind him and the kit nodded, first to Sergeant Pepper, then to Captain Hare. He approached his father and slid right into the man's embrace.

"What've you heard, Fox?" Jim asked in a calm, fatherly tone.

Fox coughed softly, stealing a glance back at Pepper before saying, "There was a landing complication; they brought me from school, dad."

"You don't have to worry," James told him, hugging the young boy tightly for a moment. Fox returned the gesture and Jim glanced up at Pepper, discreetly telling the Sergeant, "I can't keep putting the lives of myself and my team in danger for a weekly pay-check. Once my tour is up, it's best for my team and my family if I put them first. Low pay just doesn't cut it, Sarge. Kinda' like you're an intelligence 'officer' yet you're actually enlisted. Hurry up and finish officer's school because you're underpaid and undervalued and un-respected by your peers. Just sayin', John."

"Understood, Major. When your tour is up, we'll talk about this to make sure it's definitely what you want. Insurance changes, policies change. It's all complicated from that point. I'll help you get jobs as best as I can, but there _is_ a buy-out plan in two years that you're eligible for."

"How does that work?" Peppy asked, raising both his brows.

"You get two-thirds of your yearly pay up front and we shake your hand. It's the military's way to cut costs and save money with an early-end contract agreement."

"When are we eligible?" Jim asked, causing Fox to look up from his father's shoulder. The boy had been paying close attention to every spoken word, thusfar.

"Two years," Pepper noted, quietly.


	3. Chapter 3: Bioweapons & Aparoids, oh my!

A/N:_ I had intended this to be chapter 8 but then I decided I would like to go more into Peppy's present and somewhat of his future later in this story… so, the chapter that has him in the same Lab as Fox and Krystal in Reflections Of The Future… that chapter happens now!_

* * *

C H A P T E R: '3'  
Reflections of Peppy

**The recent mission taken on by Fox and Krystal **before the proposal had Peppy thinking about old things he had hoped to forget. Worst of which was the base that Andrew started using, leading up to the attack of the Aparoids. The old man placed a paw upon the glass case where his Pipes were kept. The memory coincided with putting cigars down for good and it happened not long before James was killed.

Peppy frowned, tapping a fingertip against the case for a moment before moving to his bed, taking a mug of coffee into his paws and drawing in the aroma slowly before taking a drink. It became his favorite past time as of late. He used to put Kahlua in the coffee a few years when he'd taken over as a General for Corneria but even that was just a memory now. In recent days, his most exciting past time was a glass of wine before bed to relax.

His mind began to wonder back to that night when he was ordered to take on the Fortuna base. There was still a full year before the old team's tour of duty ended. The pilots were working as a trio squadron and sought to wrap up this mission quickly because Shore Leave began the minute they got back to base. He could recall the details as if it only just happened.

Old man Peppy shut his eyes and the rabbit began to drift into a light reverie.

* * *

**James McCloud opened a channel **to the rest of the group. Peppy eased forward on his flight yolk, then gently tugged back against it, seeking to even out the pitch and yaw of the new fighters, known as "SFX Arwing". This was the first mission using them and they were still in prototype stages to see how they would work against Andross' empire directly. Ultimately, it was a test.

Jim had made the joke about the SFX Arwing being built for StarFox due to the acronym preceding the craft's name. Following James' idea of ribbing the fighter name, Pigma's voice came over the communicator next. "What's the plan for shutting this down? I'm not trying to be the joke of the week: A pilot who got shot down, outside of his cockpit. Should I bring a blaster rifle?"

"That might be a good idea," Jim replied, leading the team to a clearing near the destination point. The Fortuna outpost was quiet and the group used their scanners to sweep the area before dismounting.

Peppy reached for his cockpit release button and the canopy lifted slowly. It came to a stop, nearly vertical on the craft and the Hare began to climb free, hopping to the ground. He pulled the storage compartment open and reached for a blaster and his sniping rifle; his supply box had one cigar, a medical kit for the field and a small flask of scotch. He wasn't a heavy drinker but a shot always helped relax his nerves.

Being a talented evasive pilot, Peppy hated being a rabbit sometimes. He didn't like being flighty and instinctively quick to run from something, so a shot or two of scotch took the edge off. He had vowed to give it up after this year but doing a ground mission wasn't easy, either. It was just in case, at any rate. It helped dull the 'flight and panic' instincts of being a rabbit.

Peppy checked that his gear was properly secured then switched on the small, silver box on his belt. A wire ran from that unit, up underneath of his uniform, to the receiver in his ear. He reached to touch the transceiver, testing the channel and his transponder unit. Satisfied, the hare turned to the team's third string, Pigma.

Pigma Dengar had flown with StarFox for quite a few years now and while he was accepted as one of the team members, he was always leery of doing something that was what he referred to as "unprofitable". He didn't use that word _all _the time, but it did sneak out every now and then.

Dengar approached, offering a slow nod, then the portly man cast his gaze on Jim with a frown. "I like the danger pay of being on the ground, but a smart pilot knows that he can't make a dime if he dies. I like staying in the cockpit but, anyway. Let's get this thing over with."

"You want to fly support staff?" Jim asked, cocking a brow.

"Funny, c'mon," Dengar said, jerking his head to the left, motioning to the overly quiet base they were standing outside of. There were sections along the courtyard corridor, which was randomly marked by large double doors that looked as though they lead into a hanger bay.

Between them, every so often, was a set of concrete stairs that led downwards, beneath the ground, to a single door entrance. Pigma moved to the staircase nearest the fighters, holding his blaster rifle. James went down first, followed by Dengar. Peppy brought up the rear, watching over his two wing mates to ensure their safety.

McCloud pulled on the door latch and to his surprise, it was open. The door swung about, opening completely and causing him to glance over his shoulder, giving his coterie a sort of smirk. "Keep ready, team. There've been some wild rumors about this base."

With that, James stepped through the doorway into an empty hallway. The dimly illuminated interior was equally silent. James' footfalls echoed an empty reply to his presence. Dengar stepped into the hallway next, leveling his blaster rifle down the length of the corridor. Peppy shut the door behind himself and the three of them stood there for a moment.

Once James' natural vulpine night vision kicked in and his eyes adjusted, he could tell that they weren't in immediate danger. Pigma couldn't see anything in the area, but Peppy could see to an extent. "I'm going to have Dengar go with me and we're going to head left at the end of the hall," James explained. "You go right, Peppy. If there are any remaining Venom troops loyal to Andross' cause… well, you know what to do."

"Understood, Jim," Peppy replied, nodding his head slowly. James tapped Pigma's shoulder respectfully in a motion to follow. The two headed to the end of the hallway with Peppy in tow. Once at the end, they headed left and Peppy went to the right.

Soft white square panels began to fill the room with their soft incandescence. They were strategically placed in the floor and walls, filling the hallway with a dim sort of illumination. Peppy shifted the weight of a sniper rifle on his shoulder, keeping it firmly in his paws. He was ready for anything that might come his way. The scotch was kicking in and he couldn't help but admit to himself that he was feeling pretty brave right about now.

"You're feeling rather saucy for being in your thirties aren't you, old boy?" Peppy asked the question to himself in a near whisper, peering around the next corner of an intersection. He poked the barrel of his blaster rifle out, gazing down the aiming reticule. Not a person in sight. He was beginning to wonder if Corneria knew what they were talking about, having sent StarFox to this empty outpost.

Peppy placed a finger to the base of his ear, listening in on the radio to James and Pigma's conversation. "I think," Dengar began, "This place is deserted. It's obviously a secured base; they'd have shot at us before we could land if there was a crew of people, here. Let's just tell command that it's secured then go and get paid."

James, the Wing Commander of the squadron, chuckled in reply, over the radio in Peppy's ear. "If it is abandoned, we should have no trouble finding our way to the Command Center and verifying it. I want to get paid too, but doing a thorough job is why we have a reputation for doing good work," McCloud replied.

Peppy lifted the blaster rifle and held it pointed up, against his shoulder, using his free paw to open another random door in the corridor. His eyes suddenly narrowed and he knelt down, as if to take cover. There was a body on the floor and the blood was still red and only beginning to congeal. "McCloud, this is Peppy, do you read?"

"Go ahead, Hare," Came the reply.

"I've found a body belonging to one of the Mercenaries that Corneria lost contact with 24 hours ago. How do you wish for me to proceed, over?" Peppy stayed completely professional, checking the body for identification. A wallet and dog tags were still onsite. They matched and verified the identity of one fallen member.

James frowned on the other side of the radio channel; his distress evident by his tone. "Stay sharp. One of two things happened here, Peppy: Either there _are_ hostiles here or there was a mutiny among the Mercenaries. Either way, someone on this base isn't afraid to kill a soldier so keep to your training. We'll try to play this one by the book."

"Acknowledged," Peppy replied. "Mark Bowery, third in command of the Jolly Rogers Mercenary Squadron. Strange, I don't recall seeing their ships outside."

"I think the J.R.'s use a troop transporter," James' voice crackled over the radio. "Can you determine the cause of death?"

Peppy checked the body for the source of the coagulated vitae that had splashed across the ground and finally came to realize that there was a blaster hole that passed straight through his armor and clothing, front to back. "It's hard to tell if he was shot from behind or in face-to-face combat, the blast-puncture passes straight through him. I'm going to wager it was in close quarters, though; but from what I can see, I have nothing to validate that claim."

"Agreed," James replied over the communicator. "Without forensic tools, it'll be impossible to ascertain the validity of his death by sniper blaster or blaster pistol."

"He has a bit of a surprised look on his muzzle," Peppy mused, looking over the remains. "It's obvious he either didn't see this coming or, if it _was_ a mutiny, he didn't expect it from the gunman in question."

"Certainly not a dowry that _I_ would want to receive," James muttered over the channel in reply. McCloud's choice of vocabulary, synonymous to the terminology of 'surprise gift' caused him to receive strange looks from the other pilot in Jim's presence. Peppy, on the other end of the communicator, simply quirked a brow.

"You'n me both, Jim; should I call this one in?" Peppy asked.

"Yeah, go ahead. Pigma and I will let you know if we find anything. Go back to searching when you've finished with that room," James ordered.

"Ten four, Peppy out." Hare switched the channel back over to Central Command and said, "This is Major P. Hare of the StarFox assault squadron. I've located the body of Markus Bowery, third in command of the Jolly Rogers Mercenary Squadron. He has been fatally shot approximately this time yesterday. It's evident that the cause of death was a Blaster discharge although I can't verify whether it was done with a blaster rifle at a distance or a blaster pistol at close quarters. There are no signs of a physical skirmish and his identification is fully intact. An autopsy would be required to determine if he was shot while facing an opponent or if he was struck down from behind. StarFox is standing by and waiting for an order, over?"

It took a moment but the reply came from the new Sergeant in charge of operations for this sector, John Pepper. "This is Sergeant Pepper, I've verified a death on Mark Bowery; I'll have the next of kin informed immediately then we'll release the name, pending an investigation. StarFox, your orders are to proceed with the mission. Stay alert, you three. Pepper out."

Peppy reinitiated the communication patch with James and said, "Pepper is personally in charge of this mission. He says to keep going. I'm going to leave the wallet and dog tags here, with the body. That way when we clear this base, medic-1 can come in and pick up the bodies and all that business. I've found a key card in his paw, so I'm going to take it with me and see what it will open."

"Acknowledged," James replied over the channel. Peppy gently pried the jaguar's paw open, easing the key card out of his grasp. It was slightly bent from having been clutched so very tightly, most likely during his death and throughout the following onset of Riga Mortis.

"Hare tried his best to unbend the card key then placed it into his back pocket. Taking the blaster rifle in his grip now, the lapin continued through the room and into the next section, which appeared to be some sort of laboratory. There were shiny metal shelves and equipment running. The air conditioner was running and cool air gushed from vents throughout the room to keep the computer equipment from getting too hot. There was an electronic double door on the far wall.

Peppy quickly noted that there was a floor grate behind one of the metal shelves of equipment. He plucked a glow-stick from his field kit and bent it. The plastic cylinder began to shine brightly with its synthetic radiance. Peppy lifted the floor grate and tossed the glowing stick down into the shaft beneath the floor. He lowered his head down and looked from left to right, now that the duct was illuminated. It seemed safe.

Something caused a sound nearby and Peppy lifted his head, quickly. He stayed down on his knees, next to the floor vent, drawing his weapon. His ears were standing up straight and yet the room was silent again. That's when his eyes caught something moving. A brief flicker of an image was seen between two machines, across the room.

Some sort of strange animal-like creature peered around the corner at him. It was on four legs but fairly small. Oddly, the being had gleaming razor-like fangs that extended over its muzzle in a sort of saber-tooth manner. Its beady red eyes glistened back at the rabbit, who did his best to remain calm. The glimmering scarlet hues would normally have startled the rabbit but Peppy was known for having nerves of steel and it was times like this that he thanked himself for a shot of scotch once they hit the ground, earlier.

"Let's not take any chances," Peppy said quietly, plucking a grenade from his vest. The creature's eyes followed the rabbit's paw, widening once it saw the grenade. Before Peppy could pull the pin, it began to charge. Peppy dropped the grenade to the floor, pin intact, quickly leveling his rifle.

The freakish little imp continued to charge, gnashing teeth. Hare squeezed in on the trigger and a rapid pulse of blaster rifle energy was unleashed, pummeling the nasty little creature, and knocking it clear across the room. Its body thumped against the wall, leaving a blood stain against the metallic bulkhead. It was obviously dead.

"I know Fortuna has a lot of weird animals," Peppy said over the radio to James, "But do any of them include a fur-less saber-toothed four-legged imp?"

"Negative. Send me a tissue sample and I'll run it with the database," James answered over the line. Having forgotten about the grenade, leaving it in the corner in a rat's nest of wires (A/N: Reflections Of The Future Chapter 12), Peppy came out from behind one of the metal shelves, pulling out an electronic device from his field kit. He placed a flat end of the device against the animal's skin then pressed a few keys on the top of the handheld object. A moment passed.

Finally, James' voice came back over the radio. "It's not listed in the database. But here's something interesting. When it ran the tissue sample, my scanner indicates that the approximate age of this animal, based on cellular structure and whatnot, appears to be only thirty-six hours old. It's as if this animal was just born a day and a half ago."

"That's certainly odd," Peppy conceded. "About as odd as it gets, anyhow. Look, I've got a set of double doors here and a floor vent that goes beneath the lab floor, where I am. Which do you think I should explore?"

"Stick to the double doors," James replied. "I'm not trying to get us too far off the beaten path and having you searching out every crawlspace seems premature… Keep your eyes and ears open. I want to walk away from this place with my full team intact. According to the computer sensors, your location shows that those double doors should lead to the base's flight hanger. You can check it out and see if there are any ships on the deck and what kind they are. Expect resistance from guards if there are any ships on the flight deck. Stay alert."

"Roger, Jim," Peppy replied, heading for the double doors on the other side of the lab. They electronically swished open, sensing his proximity. On the other side was a fairly long corridor, which had signs on the concrete bulkheads, showing that the fight deck was to the right.

The Major took a moment to cogitate on his bearings. He ultimately decided to go opposite from the flight deck and so he turned left. "James, I'm going to head away from the flight deck; if we still have the element of surprise, there's no use ruining it by heading into the fray."

"Sound advice," James replied, "Dengar and I just stumbled on some sort of underground greenhouse, filled with strange plants. They feel like a fern to the touch but they're climbing up the walls like Ivy."

In the background, over Jim's radio, Peppy heard Pigma complain, "They smell awful, too." The communication closed and the rabbit continued forth, heading down an elongated hallway. A large set of blast doors was electronically sealed up ahead, forcing him to deviate from his course.

Another intersecting hallway was taken instead. Up ahead the room opened up to what seemed like a warehouse. There was another hallway platform about 3 stories above that ran perpendicular to the direction he'd just come from. A large but fairly rusted looking maintenance elevator was half-way under deconstruction that normally operated to bring things from that high opening to this ground level.

"Peppy, this is Jim, you read?" The radio crackled back to life.

"Yeah, I'm here," Hare replied.

Peppy could tell that James was disconcerted over something simply by listening to the fox's tone. "Pigma and I think we should shut these greenhouses down," Jim explained over the channel. "These plants are not only radioactive, but the properties they hold, as mentioned in a computer report we just found, dictate that they have mutagenic bio-hazard properties. They seem to be running tests on small forest animals, which may explain the thing you saw earlier."

"Understood. Should we burn the greenhouses to the ground?" Peppy asked.

James' reply was simple, "No. They don't burn easily; we tried."

"These plants are fire proof?" Peppy blinked, shaking his head as he crossed the warehouse. Crates were stacked against one wall and a door was on the other side. He opened it then frowned thoughtfully. There was another hallway leading out of this room through a door on the side. The soft hum of a generator could be heard emanating from that side door.

Pigma was right, the plants stunk horribly. The ground was dirt and the plants decorated the walls all around the area. There were two work benches in the middle of the room and upon further investigation, Peppy noted that there was some sort of disfigured four legged forest creature in the far corner, nibbling on the plants.

Peppy, feeling sorry for the freakish being but at the same time worrying for his own safety, took out an incendiary grenade and pulled the pin and rolled it across the dirt floor until it stopped next to the animal. He knelt down behind one of the work benches and plugged his ears. The small handheld bomb exploded, the intense wave of heat all but vaporized the deadly looking disfigured animal and some of the plants on the wall, leaving nothing more than smoldering vines that still ran from the wall to the dirt.

"Jim," Hare said, opening a channel, "You can fry these things with high yield incendiary devices but it would take a military arsenal to do the job properly."

James' replied with, "Copy that; we're here to shut this base down and secure it completely. I want a tight lock down operation from here on out. We've all been given red and yellow marking tape so when Corneria Defense gets here, they know what rooms to exterminate. Go ahead and mark off that door; these plants are useless freaks of nature in their own right. I don't know what kind of experiment that Andross is running here but… Tape it up, lock it down."

Peppy nodded thoughtfully, glancing around the room again. He then walked back out into the warehouse section and went through his pack. Just as James said, there was red and yellow tape. He quickly sectioned off the door with a ribbon that read, "Army ordinance 402: Section 3A, area closed due to biohazard."

Once the door was taped off, Peppy used his blaster rifle to destroy the electronic panel adjacent to the door. Smoke poured out of the controls and the rabbit gave a grin of satisfaction. "No body will be using that door for a long time," (A/N: Chapter16, Reflections Of The Future) said the pilot.

Once it was sealed, Peppy was content to head across the warehouse looking area, stepping onto the elevator. It looked stable enough, even though the metallic construction seemed worn and rusted. Activating the lift, the rickety, unsound platform made its way upwards, three stories. At the top, it grunted to a halt, metal grinding against metal.

Peppy glanced over the edge of the platform, shaking his head. "It would probably be safer to jump this thing in an assault vehicle than to take this elevator back to the bottom. I wonder," He concluded, shaking his head. He continued on into the next hallway, keeping his weapon ready.

Opening a channel back to his team leader, Peppy said, "You know, I half wonder if we shouldn't just have the government flatten this base with some heavy ordinance."

"You know all the loopholes and red tape that goes into decommissioning a strategically placed base, Peppy," James replied from the other end of the channel, "Knowing our luck, it'll be our children that wash this base away… and even _they _will probably die with it still erected. You know how Venom's autocracy and our government will argue about the ownership of this massive complex for the next thirty years. And it costs money to tear this down, if it's abandoned, Corneria will be satisfied to let it sit and rot."

Peppy shook his head with a frown. "I saw that they're constructing a dam outside the base; someone could run this place on hydroelectric power and make serious use out of this facility, that's why it _should_ be demolished and torn down, once we take it out of Venom's hands."

"See if Sergeant Pepper can get the permission and we'll see where it goes from here; let's finish the job and get back to our Arwings," James said over the radio. "McCloud out." The channel was closed.

At the end of the hall, Peppy spotted some Venom soldiers talking in the hallway. He glanced about, spotting a convenient bathroom and stepped in, glancing about to ensure that there were no Lizards using it. He then peeked his head back out through the doorway, lifting a long lapin ear to listen in on the conversation.

"I've been feeling really sick, Sir. I was requesting another light duty chit or possibly even sick leave, Sir," One said to the other. Luckily for Peppy, he did fairly well in the academy when it came to learning the Venom language and so he understood what was being said at the time.

"This is the third time in a week that you've been ill, soldier! You deserve it, all three of you nimrods, for taking that bet and eating those plant leaves with your buddies! How STUPID could you possibly get?" The watch commander exclaimed in anger. "Don't you realize that stuff is lethal? Yes, it's food poisoning, you've had it for days now… You've seen the lab results they had on forest animals! Do you want to end up a half-way undead freak? The virus you contract can cause genetic mutations and we don't even _know_ the implications on whether it can make you sterile or not! If you grow a tooth out the center of your forehead, don't come crying to me; I'll laugh and call you 'unicorn boy', now get out of my sight."

"Sir, I'm too sick to work!" Protested the soldier.

The commander shrugged unsympathetically, adding, "Don't worry, you'll be comfortable in a medical bay, young man. I'm taking you off my work force. You'll be shipped back to Venom immediately. That's where your two friends went and one of them _died_ from eating those leaves; didn't you hear?"

"What? When?" The soldier raised his voice in surprise. It was the first time he'd been made aware that one of his buddies died from that incident.

The commander narrowed his eyes, hissing softly in anger. "I was really hoping, since you lasted the longest at a full week, that you'd beat it. It's a shame you and your two dumb friends had to eat that shit. Now get out of my sight; report to medical, I'll have you shipped out in the morning you pathetic excuse for a Military Soldier! MOVE!"

Peppy ducked back into the bathroom but the younger soldier could be heard approaching. Quickly, the rabbit snuck into a stall and pulled out a sidearm blaster, attaching a silencer, just in case. The lizard wondered into the bathroom and washed his face, groaning about his stomach, then opened one of the bathroom stalls.

To his surprise, Peppy was crouched up, over one of the toilets, holding the pistol in the enlistee's face. "Surprise, soldier," Peppy said quietly, in his best Venomian. The dialect was a little off but the words were correct. The trigger was pulled and the lizard dropped to the floor, motionless. A pool of scarlet collected beneath his head from the bullet between his eyes. Peppy shuttered, stepping over the body and leaving the bathroom.

"I hate ground work sometimes," he muttered under his breath. He couldn't stand making every death so personal. He preferred to do his combat in the skies, pilot to pilot and machine to machine. Hare crept out of the bathroom and took careful aim of the watch Commander who stood in the hallway, facing the other direction. Once his sights were lined up perfectly, he squeezed the trigger, dropping the lizard to the deck. He then spoke into his radio softly and said, "Hostiles sighted and engaged; stand by."

Unfortunately, the Commander was standing far enough up the hallway that someone in an intersecting corridor saw the commander go down. Peppy quickly unshouldered his sniper rifle, screwed a flash muzzle silencing device to the end of the barrel and took careful aim of the fallen body. Two men approached from either side, stepping into the hallway Peppy was in, and into the rabbit's gun sight.

Two quick shots knocked two more men down. He touched a button on his lapel and said into the radio, "Well James, there goes our element of surprise. I ruined the stealth trying to pick people off with my Demon Sniper Rifle."

"Make sure no one can sneak up on you," James replied over the radio, "What's your status?"

"I'm caddy corner," Peppy said, glancing over his left, then right shoulder. "I've got a bathroom behind me and over my other shoulder the hallway drops 3 stories and the Maintenance Elevator is in the 'up' position, so I'll know if anyone is coming."

"Stay put for now," James mused, "Sounds like you have a strategic location for the moment. If too many forces make their presence known, use that elevator and get out of there. Don't stay in one place too long."

"Roger, Jim. Expect to hear an alarm any time now, the whole base probably saw that watch commander drop," Peppy replied ready for anything now. So far, there was no alert indication. Just silence.

Jim was quick to respond, saying, "Pigma and I are near your location according to my read out device. We're going to come up the hallway opposite from you, don't fire, Pep." Just then, James and Pigma stepped into the hallway at the other end of Peppy's sights. Another soldier rushed out through the intersection, diving behind the watch commander's body to use as a shield. He held a gun around the body, aiming in Peppy's general direction.

Not seeing James and Pigma coming up the opposite end, the soldier seemed to be fortifying his position by crouching down low behind the fallen body of the Watch Commander. From Peppy's vantage point, he could tell that the Lizard had no clue that two pilots were approaching from behind him. It was an amusing situation to be sure.

Peppy narrowed his eyes and, simultaneously, Jim took out his pistol and dispatched the lizard shooting in Peppy's direction. The soldier never saw it coming. Peppy stood up, putting the rifle on safety and shouldering it. He then picked up his B.A.R. or 'blaster assault rifle' shouldering that weapon as well. He holstered his pistol then made his way up the hall towards his squadron leader.

"Nice work, Peppy. Three down; not a bad draw," James said in a congratulatory tone.

"There's another in the bathroom," Peppy replied with a wan grin. "But you know it's like I tell you, James… Just shoot it, right?"

"Just shoot it," McCloud repeated. "Okay, so four down. I'm impressed; I might even owe you a beer when we get back to the Inn." The 'Inn', or "Squad-rINN" was known as a place to drink for flight squadrons. The play-on-words bar name was one of Pigma's favorite places to drink or squabble with other pilots and so James and Peppy would occasionally hang out there as well. Most pilots passed through the bar occasionally just because of the kill-score board that was posted above the bar counter. Pilots were often curious how they ranked against other pilots that flew out of that particular Cornerian base.

James McCloud usually hovered around first or second place and Peppy often hovered around fourth or fifth place. Pigma also did well, on the top ten, usually right around 8th or 9th in the company. Anyone who made top 10 was able to brag and StarFox was the only squadron with all its active pilots in the top ten spot.

The fact remained: the StarFox squadron leader didn't hold the top spot in the base all the time. However, his team certainly had the highest combined kill score in the entire base as well as over any team flying off of Katina. James was usually the kind of leader who would share enemies with his crew instead of hogging all the bogies.

McCloud glanced back at a sign on the wall, furtively, and then leveled his gaze back upon Major Hare. "Unless my limited Venom fails me, we're near the barracks which isn't bad considering no one should be in them at this time of day," James said. "Pigma, you're the most fluent reader of the Venom language here, what do the rest of the wall markings say?"

Dengar glanced up at the scrawling on the bulkhead then shrugged, "Barracks A-C, Hydroponics bay ahead, the Head is down the hall," He said, thumbing the direction from which Peppy came, referring to the bathroom. He then continued, adding, "Cafeteria is behind us and the armory is between Barracks B and C. I say we level their weapons cache for this entire wing of the base. The only way we're ever going to get rich one day is if we remove their weapons supply and stay alive."

"Sounds like a plan," James said, nodding in agreement. "Pigma, you head to the armory, take what you can, set up charges and meet up with us in the hydroponics bay. Peppy and I are going to shut down this operation and close down this base before they can finish the construction of the next wing, let alone that dam. Watch your back," Jim told him, giving the portly swine a pat on the shoulder.

Dengar glanced down at where the vulpine paw rested on his shoulder then lifted his gaze offering a long, slow nod. "Danger pay, that's all I've got to say," He told them, heading down the hallway that ran perpendicular to their location. James and Peppy exchanged a puzzled glance with one another then headed off towards the hydro growth facility, the main greenhouse of the base for the most part.

McCloud and Hare approached the electronic door for the science lab devoted to the strange plants. "Stand by, Major," Jim said, switching his radio frequency from a private channel among the team to a special channel to his Arwing, which would route the connection via subspace frequency to Corneria.

"Pepper, this is James McCloud, over?"

Peppy could hear over his own earpiece what Pepper said in reply, "Jamie, this is John; I read you. What's the status?"

James replied, "As intelligence expected, sir: There are a light crew of soldiers and a small group of scientists here, running secret experiments. It's our belief that this science team is running an experiment on some sort of strange plants. When we finish, I want air support to sweep this base and level it, sir."

"Negative on that request, Jim," Pepper said on the other end of the radio. "Corneria wants to investigate it first. It could prove an invaluable location of defense to protect Corneria. Personally, if I was in charge, I'd level it before Venom can strike at Corneria _from_ that base, but as you know, I'm not quite running things just yet."

"Understood, sir," James said. "Sergeant isn't quite 'General of the Force'. You'll get there one day, sir. Peppy and I are positioned outside of their main science lab. They've got this base under construction, trying to build a second wing across from the first, making a weapons courtyard in the center, as well as a Dam so they can run the base on hydroelectricity. They want to re-route water so that there is a canyon behind the base (A/N: _Where SF fights Andrew in SF:Assault_). We need to know a Course Of Action for the scientists in the hydroponics lab."

"Do your best to ensure there are no casualties of their non-military personnel, Jim. Wrap this up quickly and we'll bring you guys home. I've already got flight missions lined up for you guys, starting Thursday," Pepper replied, adding, "This is your future General Of The Force, closing the channel." The radio communiqué came to an end.

"All right, get ready," James said to Peppy. "I'll kick open the door and shoot into the ceiling. The scientists will probably duck down; you take out any military soldiers in the lab."

"I'm right behind ya, Jimbo. Let's do this," Peppy replied, passing the dead mercenary's card key over to McCloud. James reached back and touched the card key to the electronic locking panel on the wall. There was a small light built into the door that flashed from red to green. The fox placed his foot on the door and pushed hard, causing it to slide open on its track.

Jim leaned in, opening fire into the ceiling. Two men in lab coats dropped to the floor as a group of military men went for their side arm. Peppy ducked into the room, opening fire with his blaster rifle. James offered covering fire, ducking in behind Peppy.

The rabbit knocked down two of the seven soldiers that were gathered for some sort of apparent demonstration. He ducked down behind the first row of computer machines in the center of the lab. James took down another military lizard, ducking down next to Peppy, sitting on the floor with their backs up against the machines. "Three down, four to go, Major. So good so far!"

"Ready to trust your instincts, Jim?" Peppy said with a wan smile. "I'll go left, you go right."

"I'm always ready to trust the ole' instincts," James replied, giving a nod to his wing mate. "_You_'re just saying that because you know I _always_ go _right_… here we go!" He ducked out behind the computer on the right side and Peppy ducked out from behind the machine, heading left. Both opened fire immediately, aiming upwards.

McCloud took down a fourth soldier, knocking the lizard back against the wall, leaving a dark colored splatter on the bulkhead. The lizard convulsed wildly, knocking over a terminal. A monitor crashed to the floor, shattering. Glass fragments could be heard, skittering across the tiled floor.

"Move up," James hissed back at his friend. He began crawling up around the right hand side of all the computer equipment in the middle of the room; Peppy moved on his elbows and knees, firing off sporadic shots to keep the soldiers pinned down. "Ready when you are, Peppy," James said, directing his voice beneath the computer equipment to Peppy on the other side.

"Right!" The rabbit replied. He squatted down then suddenly leapt up towards the computer terminal counter. The powerful legs of the lapin pilot launched him upwards, hardly breaking a sweat to alight the countertop. He immediately opened fire from above, shooting down into the remaining group of three military officers. James rolled out, away from the computer terminal, shooting outwards, diagonally into the direction of the military lizards.

All three of them dropped to the ground, dead. Peppy flipped his safety on and glanced over at the two scientists crouched down on the floor. "You two are under arrest for operating a Venom military science laboratory on Fortuna. Why can't you guys just stick to your _ratty side_ of Lylat?" Said the Hare, shaking his head.

Pigma came into the room, looking up at Peppy on the counter, then James on the floor, with his gun pointing in the direction of a pile of military soldiers. Dengar was easily able to gather from simple observation what had happened. His eyes raked over those that had been dispatched on the other side of the computer desk in the center of the room. He leisurely walked into the lab, grabbing one of the science officers who tried to make a break for the door upon swishing open. Dengar slammed the lab-rat lizard up against the wall hard.

McCloud stood up and approached the group of scientists, shaking his head slowly. "Why don't you tell us about this demonstration you were about to give for that group of military men," James said. "Or we can talk about consecutive life terms in a Cornerian prison, if you'd prefer that instead.

"I say we _kill them_ if they don't talk," Pigma said, forming the words in Venom's language. "…Or they can tell us about this demonstration and we'll let'em live."

"Fine!" One of the scientists said, picking up a translator on the table. He spoke into it and the mechanical device changed his voice, altering it to Cornerian, "We're using these radioactive plants to mutate living tissue. Certain plants on Fortuna have the ability to hold in radioactive properties instead of killing the plant, that's why we're here, to study them," Said one of the scientists. "Can you please release my partner?"

Dengar shrugged and shoved the scientist he had pinned up to the wall. The lizard stumbled towards the other science officer, standing there, looking terrified. "You're not going to kill us are you?" The lizard with the translator asked.

"Not if you cooperate," Dengar said, pulling his pistol out and pointing it at the lab workers.

"Pepper wants us to bring these two in for an investigation," McCloud noted. "I want to know about this little demonstration that they were going to give the Venom army, here. I'm curious. Aren't you curious, Peppy?"

"Sure am, what about you, Pigma?" Hare asked.

"Damn right, I am," Dengar replied.

One of the scientists approached a control panel and pointed to the flashing red button on the terminal. "That button will activate the demonstration on the other side of the glass behind me. What you will see is the four minutes that it takes for that Fortunia Monarch Dodoria baby to become mutated by eating meat on a pole that is covered in the plants we're growing here."

"I suddenly dislike this experiment," Peppy said, approaching the glass, keeping his weapon trained on the scientists, even though his safety was active. Dengar approached the window, watching quietly.

After a short repose, Dengar softly mused, "I don't get paid enough to be around Dodoria babies… look, it doesn't even have its second head yet, it's hardly a year old and it's _huge_."

James approached the glass, standing behind the other four men. "I agree with Peppy: I suddenly don't like this experiment. Plus you guys are mistreating wild animals. Those things are dangerous."

"You have no idea," Said the scientist with the translator in his palm. He stepped back a bit, pressing the red flashing button. The meat was lowered into the pit and the young dodoria approached it, snapping into the meat and pulling it off the hook quickly. In the next minute its flesh began to bubble up, looking twisted and gnarled.

The second minute came and passed, the young dragon began to mutate a second and third head before the pilot's very eyes, growing to a slightly larger size. The third minute came and the dodoria grew extremely violent. It slammed its tail against the glass of the science lab, cracking it. As the fourth moment came along, the Dodoria's eyes went to a milky sort of white and its talons grew to a ridiculous length. All three heads were breathing fire with every screaming roar it managed to bellow.

"We're creating bio weapons for Dr. Andross but we have something far worse planned," Said the first lizard.

"By all means, we can find out from your computer records or we can find out from you. Cooperation may reduce your sentences," James told them.

"We've managed to capture a small half-bioorganic and half-machine alien and we're doing experiments on it. They're called Aparoids." The scientist leered as if he was excited about the Aparoid.

"You're an idiot," Peppy said, shaking his head. "What if that thing gets loose, or worse, more come for it? DO we even KNOW how capable of an opponent they are?"

"They're incredibly capable. We already have plans for it to be released that you cannot stop," Said the science officer.

"Go on," McCloud said, poking the lizard with his gun muzzle.

The scientist smirked then told them, "He's being released from Macbeth before you'll have the chance to stop it. You'll need at least a Cornerian battle fleet to fight it!"

"A single enemy that can take on a full sized battle fleet?" Pigma asked, widening his eyes and looking rather impressed. "Can you imagine having those things fighting for us? We'd wipe out Venom and end the war in a rather short time."

"Dengar," James said in a tone of warning. McCloud then turned back to the lizard. "When will it be released from Macbeth?"

"I don't know," Said the lizard. "Take me to get interrogated by your stupid Cornerian prison ship."

"You seem awfully ready to get out of here," Peppy mused. Suddenly the dodoria slammed its tail against the laboratory's glass panel again. The glass held but cracked once more, adding to the dissonant formulation of spider-like webs which spread throughout the entire panel.

The scientist fidgeted for a moment then said, "That's reinforced high power bullet proof shielding. It can handle standard armor piercing rounds at high velocity, point blank range. It shouldn't crack all the way through, like that. You've taken down my military support. It would have taken the whole group of them to put that thing down after the test was complete. Now we all have to leave."

"How long will that thing live?" James asked.

The lizard shrugged slightly. "Its body becomes unstable in two weeks, that's the longest we've been able to keep one of these things alive, so far. We need to find a way to genetically engineer, or perhaps rewrite the DNA so that the cellular structure is self repairing and self mending. We're just a few short years away from that!"

"You guys are twisted," Peppy muttered, hooking the blaster rifle over his shoulder and taking the first lizard by his wrists and pulling them behind his back. Pigma took the second scientist in a tight grip, and they both began walking the scientists outside.

Pigma tilted his head, glancing back at the cracked glass as they exited the lab through the main door from which they'd entered. "Would something like this be profitable?"

"For us?" The lizard cackled. "More profitable than any pilot could conceivably imagine."

No sooner did they get outside the hydroponics bay, the concrete wall came down to the right of the lab. A large, swollen paw clawed at the hole in the wall, pulling the steel bars apart that ran through the concrete section of bulkhead. "Go, go, GO!" James cried, shoving Peppy away from the scythe-like talons that shredded the cement like warm butter. Pigma ushered the scientists away from the hydroponics bay doors but one of the dodoria's three heads dipped in through the crumbling wall and snatched up one of the lizards, biting into him and leaving nothing more than bloody ankles.

"Go, Peppy! Dengar, keep that scientist alive if you can! Run!" James words faded into memories….

* * *

…**Peppy tore his eyes from the set of tobacco pipes**. He could recall dropping into his cockpit, reaching for a Cigar that day. But it coincided with another memory that he didn't want to think about. At least not right now… The Aparoid that leveled an entire Cornerian fleet; it wasn't something he rightly wished to recall at the moment. That was another reflection for another day. He let his paw off the pipes… they coincided with giving up cigars, around the time they left Fortuna and just days later when the Aparoid was released from Macbeth.

For now, it was time to clear his mind. For that, he took his favorite mug with the letter "P" emblazed on the side, and went down to the galley of GreatFox II for some tea. While he missed being the Fleet General and having a replicating Tea Dispenser in his own quarters, there was a general sort of modesty to retiring back to GreatFox once more.

His mind began to wonder again, somewhat. Pepper had gone from General to Prime Minister after the Aparoid attack and Peppy had become General for a few years. Since retiring, Peppy was curious how old man Pepper was doing. He'd only just moved his possessions back to GreatFox II and spent most of the day with his daughter, Lucy.

Lucy had become quite the pilot over the last few years and she'd even begun crossing paths with StarFox more and more, lately. She was occasionally helping them in all measures of endeavors. Now Peppy's thoughts turned upon his daughter. She was intelligent, beautiful and made her father very proud. Lucy would be visiting him again later this week and he was certainly looking forward to it.

For now, he would have his tea and head to bed.

* * *

A/N: _I bet you guys thought I forgot about this story XD. _

_No, it was just time to do another chapter. Like I said, I have more time, now. I spent all day from noon until midnight, tinkering with this. April 5th, that is. I would write, then walk away and clear my head, then write, then spend some time with my wife, then write. Then I would check mail and converse with my roommate about the band stuff, then go back to writing. Then eat something and surf the web, only to go back and finish the chapter. I took a whole day to make chapter 3 a reality :D _

_And now you guys know how that Aparoid came about 17 years prior to starfox assault, when Beltino mentioned it. More on the details in chapter 4 of this Story when I get around to it. :D Also, you'll see more of his daughter, Lucy, from STARFOX COMMAND for the DS. _

_Back to Reflections of a new generation and Lament of Carmelita! I also have updates for my other stories, Nothing passed tomorrow and The Curse as well as Similar Paths Taken to finish and post before I become work-busy again. Be good yaw'll!_

-Kitsunari


	4. Chapter 4: 17 years before the Invasion

A/N: _I love this story. We also see Miyu's father here, and a little foreshadowing in regards to the Aparoid invasion. :-O_

Chapter -4- "_Seventeen years before the Invasion_"

* * *

**Lucy Hare was an _Astrophysicist_. **But first and foremost, she was a pilot by blood. She could make any old man a proud father with her excellent grades and intelligent conversation. She made some women turn green when in proximity and her busty complexion always brought her as much attention as her education garnished respect. 

She gave her father a smile, looking at his old pipe collection in the display case. He'd grown out of using them but the compilation was worth quite a bit being that most of them were already at an antique status, over a quarter century in age. "Dad, what inspired you to become a General?"

"I suppose it was just my calling after Pepper became sick; it was right before he ran to become Prime Minister," Peppy replied, taking a sip from his favorite mug. "Sometimes you don't necessarily have to have aspirations to do something but when you're called upon to be your best, you simply do what is needed to make the world a better place. Sounds silly huh?" A wry grin was offered, half obscured by his now-thick mustache. "I guess part of it comes from when the Aparoids _first_ attacked."

"Oh?" Lucy continued passed his collection of pipes adjusting a photograph on the wall of her mother and father together. The two continued on, walking from her father's study and into the hallway of the GreatFox's replacement carrier ship. "Do you think about that sort of stuff now that you're retired?"

"I've been reflecting on a lot of things," Peppy replied, taking another sip from his mug. "I'm actually sitting down to a new task for myself… I'm hammering out the details and cross referencing them for accuracy but… I'm writing my memoirs; it's what we old men do. Krystal is pregnant now and one day, Fox will understand the desire to write _his_ memoirs." He sometimes treated their conversations as if Fox was her brother, even though the two were not related

Lucy decided to revert to the prior topic. "How did the Aparoid invasion help you make up your mind about becoming a General?"

"Actually, this particular invasion happened just before you were born," the old man replied. "It was an _army of one_ and it was strangely mutated, even for an Aparoid. It had been captured by Andross Oikonny and he tampered with it. After his experiments were finished, he released it to attack Corneria's Exploration Delta Fleet. After destroying the entire company, it left Lylat, nearly destroyed."

"You were there for that?" she asked, raising her brows.

"I was called in to deal with it, yes," Peppy confirmed. "It was _seventeen_ _years_ _prior_ to the full invasion that happened while you were in school. It was classified so I wasn't allowed to talk about it but we managed to damage the Aparoid to the point where it had no choice but to retreat. We destroyed its jump-drive capability so it had to travel back to its home-world the _long_ way. That's why it took seventeen years for their counter attack."

Lucy opened the door to the ship's galley and the two stepped in, heading for the kitchen storage compartment. "So you were called onto the scene during the first attack and that made you want to become a General?"

"It gave me aspirations of being a _veteran_ _advisor_," Peppy explained. "Like I said earlier, the whole deal with becoming a General was one of those 'time and place' things that fell together. But I probably wouldn't have accepted this position had it not been for that day the first Aparoid attacked; I was put into a position where I was able to take charge, make calls and save lives with no prior General experience up to that point. It gave me future confidence which weighed heavily on my decision to accept the invitation as General around the time that Pepper became the Cornerian Prime Minister. Come to think of it, it actually happened because he became too ill to run the military. Luckily, he made a full recovery and stepped up to lead the planet."

"I'm sure that day is no longer classified, right?" Lucy asked, fetching a refill for her father's coffee mug.

"I suppose I can tell you about it," the elder Hare replied, motioning to one of the cafeteria seats. "Get comfortable, it's a long story. I was thirty-three years old and StarFox was on shore-leave at the time. Your mother was giving a lecture on planet Zoness, about displacement in inertia with the new breakthrough in 'Gravity Defusing' way back, before Zoness was a _wasteland_. Me? As I recall, I was…"

* * *

…**Young at heart but strong in mind,** Peppy Hare stood on the observation deck of the Carrier ship 'Pegasus.' It was flanked on either side by cruiser escorts, the Bismuth and the Titan IV. The Bismuth, named accordingly for its iridescent tarnish and the pinkish hue of the ship's belly, was one of the heaviest cruisers in the exploration fleet. The Titan IV was an amphibian-race ship recently constructed to honor the re-signing of the alliance between Corneria's race and the Amphibian race of Zoness and Aquas. 

There were two other ships at the back of the carrier group, both of which were destroyer class vessels, as well as a fighter escort to fill in the gaps. The exploration armada was being set to construct a deep space relay station complete with a high power telescope. Their secondary mission was to conduct experiments on Linear Space Jumping technology which, up until this time, was only successful in laboratories.

Peppy volunteered to spend his vacation on the exploration trip because he felt it would be better than sitting at home for a week. From the observation deck, Peppy watched the pillars of white streak by as the carrier group continued through hyperspace towards their destination. Someone approached the rabbit from behind, startling the man from his quiet reverie. "Major, Sir?" Peppy turned towards the voice.

"Yes?" he asked, nodding respectfully to the Collie.

"A message for you, Sir," the junior officer said, passing a small flat object to Peppy. Hare took the electronic pad and glanced at the screen, holding it at arm's length so he could read it better.

"Damn if I haven't forgotten my reading glasses," Peppy muttered under his breath, squinting at the small font from a distance. "It's blurrier if I bring it closer," he groused.

"Don't all pilots need perfect vision, Major?" the man asked, frowning thoughtfully.

The rabbit turned and pointed to a plaque on the far end of the observatory deck, reading it out loud. "We hereby commission the Pegasus Carrier Vessel on this fourth day of the fourth month, to her quest of exploration." He paused then skipped down to the fine print at the bottom of the plaque, still reading it from across the room. "This vessel was constructed in the Norfolk Shipyards in orbit above Corneria Capital. This plaque was dedicated by the crew of her maiden voyage by the officers under the command of Captain Edward Spaniel."

"You can read that, Sir, but need glasses to see the message panel in your paw?" This junior officer was beginning to grate on the rabbit's nerves. Hare felt like placing the pad directly against the collie's nose but retained his graceful composure.

"It's too close for comfort, young man," Hare finally told him.

"Yes, Sir. My apologies, Major. Would you like me to read it aloud for you?" The young junior officer asked.

"No thank you," Peppy quickly glanced at the man's rank insignia, adding, "Chief Warrant Officer; that's quite unnecessary. I'll be just fine, thank you. You're dismissed." The canine nodded and quickly departed from the area. Peppy took the message display over to the 'mini-bar' located at the far end of the Observation Lounge area.

He poured himself an ounce of scotch into a four ounce glass and held the pad up to the light, looking down through the bottom of the glass which magnified the words. "I promised myself I wouldn't drink anymore after that last mission but it's not like I do it because I'm an Alcoholic. I just do it for my nerves, when I'm having a social cigar or because I'm on _my_ time," he reminded himself. "Besides, it makes for a good magnification glass; wasting it would be alcohol abuse."

The message was from John Pepper. "I've been promoted, Peppy! They've added another tack to my collar and I'm inviting you to the promotion party in just four days. I know you're on that health-kick diet of yours with the free cigars and liquor but what civilized officer would pass up a social evening with his peers? See you in four days, Major. Bring your wife.

J. Pepper"

"Gentlemen's brandy with the brass, hmm?" Pepper grinned, placing the message on the counter. He upended the ounce of scotch then placed the glass in a collection bin beneath the Formica countertop. "Free Cigars... who in the hell does he think he is, throwing cigars at me? He knows I'm trying to switch to a pipe, once I finish my stogy supply." It had been harder to quit because Peppy liked the personal image and strong character portrayal.

Growing up, he'd seen television movies with old fashion military officers portrayed as heroes with a cigar and a small glass of scotch. It was old fashion but it was something he'd grown into as a young man. He knew it wouldn't last forever but he wasn't about to quit overnight, either.

The ship began to teeter to the left gently, alarming Peppy. "I know I don't do the 'Titania Two-step' off of just one ounce," he said quietly, approaching the observation window. "What in the hell is _that_?" he asked aloud, staring at what appeared to be a large eight-wing butterfly off the port bow. Before another thought passed through his head, the warning siren of a red alert began to blare through the ship, out in the hallway.

"You've got to be kidding me," the rabbit grumbled. "What in the world is that thing for crying out loud?" In that instant, a thought crossed his mind. He recalled what he'd learned on his mission to Fortuna, concerning a mutated creature. He couldn't help but wonder if this thing was it. Peppy turned from the window and headed out into the hallway. It was time to make his way to the bridge so he could tell the Captain what he knew concerning what this creature might actually be.

The hallway was littered with people who were running in all directions to hurry to their posts. The ship pitched forth then shifted in yaw causing people to stagger, throwing their hands out to steady themselves at the nearest bulkhead. Peppy was no different, trying to keep his footing as the ship shifted from the assault. "Vivian's going to kill me," he muttered, dashing through the corridor. "I promised her I'd take this mission to get away from guns and testosterone for a week," he reminded himself aloud, hurrying down the hall towards the bridge.

The double doors swished open and Peppy rushed onto the bridge, announcing, "I may have information; permission to…?"

"…Granted!" the captain shouted over the exterior rumbling noise, speaking overtop of Peppy. Hare hurried over to the captain's seat and reached over to the computerized access keyboard on the armrest of the captain's chair. He punched in some numbers, zooming up on the rounded section of one of the wings belonging to the creature displayed on their main view screen.

"Those are gel-like sections from what I can tell; we need to hit what we can," Peppy said, continuing his explanation. "This thing is nearly invulnerable without taking out its Achilles heal first! If I'm right, that thing is a mutated freak captured and altered by Doctor Oikonny."

"What should we hit it with?" asked the Captain. "Will the fighters have a better chance against this thing?" he added, reaching to hit a button to un-zoom his main viewer.

"It's your call," Peppy said. "Whatever we have."

"You're the combat pilot," the captain replied flatly. "This isn't my forte, Major. Commander!" he shouted, turning to his first officer. "Direct the fighter cover to zero in on the gelatinous rounded sections on each wing!"

The first mate hurried over to the communications terminal and everyone else on the bridge looked on in horror. M-Class medium fighters formed into a tight pattern then dispersed at the last minute, with all 8 fighters going after a different wing.

The creature flapped its massive appendages then folded them neatly behind its back, bringing the large bulbous tail to bear. Peppy could feel his jaw beginning to drop when a plasma stream gushed from the tail tip, eradicating three of the eight pilots with ease. Peppy turned to the Captain and simply said, "Call for reinforcements. Let's see how quickly James can get here."

"I may have closer options," the captain said. He was a feline gentleman with a smart look about him. His sharp, aristocratic features gave him a sense of command and he was quick to work his options before asking a pilot to come all the way from Corneria. The main view screen grew a digital partition, showing carrier and fleet movements in the surrounding quadrants.

Captain Michael Lynx stood up from his chair and turned to Peppy with a frown. "Look, we're all family men. Hell, I have a _daughter_ who's only a toddler but we have to fight this thing ourselves if it comes down to it and I want everyone to give one hundred percent." His eyes darted over to the two ensigns sitting at the control panels who sat behind Peppy, attempting to look stoic.

"Is that clear?" the Captain asked, raising his voice. He continued before an answer could be given. "I want _everyone_ to play by the book. We're not a battleship but we're going to survive this. I'll go home to Miyu and Lana and you'll all go home to your own families. Ensign Carrington," he said, addressing the helmsman, "Set a course for evasive maneuver 'Delta Epsilon.' I want to get our broadside away from that thing quickly, we need to give our destroyers a wide birth and change our vector; pitch six degrees, yaw forth negative eight degrees. FLANK speed!" he shouted. The room was quick to look busy and the plotted course was taken into account without a moment's hesitation.

"I have something to confess," Captain Lynx said softly. Peppy stepped forth, offering his ear. Michael Lynx smirked inwardly and said, "I've always wanted to be a combat captain; as much as my little girl says she wants to be a combat pilot, I wanted to captain a battleship. I _know_ my evasive patterns and we're going to survive this thing even if we don't kill it."

"You'd make a fine battleship captain, Sir," Peppy replied, turning to face the view screen once more. He immediately flinched, seeing two more fighters brought down by the powerful creature. Peppy shook his head slowly and said, "I wonder if that thing is angry for the way Oikonny treated it. I wonder if, next time he sees a large mechanical ape with two floating mechanical arms, he'll strike it down in anger."

"It'll be a long time before he's ever so lucky," Lynx predicted, only to add, "Because we're going to send this thing back to its momma."

"Sounds like a plan," Peppy said. Suddenly, the ship rocked hard to the port side, having sustained a massive hit against the starboard hull. The computer immediately reported a breech on the right rear section and Captain Lynx was quick to jump back into the game.

The feline leapt from his chair and knelt down besides the helmsman and damage control personnel. "Seal off those sectors and evacuate the cross-sections then depressurize them! We need to keep the ship's weight even if we're going to try to out maneuver this beast; detonate the level one pressure valve, the added thrust will bring us around the side of that thing."

"Destroyer number one preparing for initial blast, Captain!" one of the crewmen reported. "…Firing!" The view screen lit up like a candle causing everyone to avert their eyes. When the flash ended, the Aparoid was covered in plasma fires but they extinguished in the vacuum of space after only a few seconds. The oxygenated plasma fire canon was designed to hit a target the way napalm reacted: burn the target until the fires burned out. It was a weapon normally used against ground targets from orbit but obviously the Destroyer's Captain felt the desire to execute such a blast in space.

The Aparoid, on the other hand, was completely unfazed. It spread its wings wide open, one of which managed to clip the Pegasus, causing the ship's forward shields to collapse. The sudden shift caused most of the crew to tumble to the floor and one of the ensigns, a husky named Lohan, was thrown clear from his seat. He now lay on the carpeted bridge floor, several feet from his station and was completely motionless.

Peppy crawled over to him, checking for a pulse but there was none. He glanced back up at Captain Lynx and said, "We have a casualty, Michael! Ensign Lohan landed on his neck, he's dead Sir!"

"Take his position, Major!" Lynx ordered, kneeling down to the ground again. Staying low kept them from being thrown across the bridge like rag dolls with each and every attack. Peppy knew this and crawled back to the console, removing the belt from his uniform pants. The stools located in front of each control terminal were simple round discs used for seating with a metal bar as the backrest. It was designed to keep soldiers from slouching at their posts but now it served as an anchor for Peppy's belt. The rabbit looped it around his stomach, around the thin metal pole that was now touching his spine, buckling the tether against his hip.

He placed his paws against the flat panel touch-screen computer controls and began to punch in a new course. "We're sitting ducks at this proximity," Peppy announced. "Permission to change course; I propose we bring about ninety degrees then ignite pressure valve two for a hasty retreat; firing the booster directly into the path of the adversary!"

"Make it so!" Lynx shouted over the proximity warnings that were screaming in the background. Peppy fired the maneuvering thrusters normally used for docking in an orbital space station. The front of the ship began to move away from the monstrosity, pointing the aft section directly towards the Aparoid. "Fire the second pressure valve!" Michael Lynx demanded, once their backside faced the enemy.

"Firing!" Peppy replied. A thick plume of fire engulfed the Aparoid and the ship jolted forward, evading the enemy by steering clear of it. In the aft-view, the second destroyer fired its own Plasma fusion canon. The Aparoid staggered backwards through the void but looked otherwise undamaged.

"Dammit!" Lynx cried, burying his fist into the side of the helm. "Arm the Smart Missiles," he added, still crouching near the panel so as not to be thrown again, should they take another hit. "Fire each one at the remaining round sections in the wings."

"The remaining cover of fighters have been destroyed!" one of the crewmen reported. "Smart Missiles away, Sir!" he continued a few seconds later. They all glanced up at the screen and waited. The bright flash of white was quick to engulf the enemy but before the aft camera lens could adjust for flair compensation, the crewman working at the tactical station glanced up from his sensor terminal and frowned.

"No effect. I repeat, the missiles had no effect," said the crewman, dropping his eyes back to his station as if in shame.

"Okay," Lynx said. "Back to our original idea; pull up the nearest fleet movements, let's see who can come to our aid." A screen was brought up, showing every allied ship in the next three sectors. A static box filled half of the view screen. "Damn, our subspace communication buoy was destroyed?-!" How in the heck is _that_ possible?"

Peppy glanced up from his station but the tactical officer was quicker to report the latest information. "Sir!" the canine said, "One of the destroyers are calling all hands to abandon ship, its core has gone critical and…" he paused and the room went silent. He glanced back up and said, "It's been vaporized, sir… All hands lost."

"Dammit!" Captain Lynx said, slamming his fist against the armrest of his chair, climbing back to it from the floor. "Bring us about; I want to cover the Bismuth, what is the status of the remaining fleet!"

Peppy was quicker to reply this time, saying, "They've sustained heavy damage and are reporting a high number of casualties and injured. I'm laying in the new course but even at this trajectory, we're limping about like a wounded child. That _thing_ is … Wait! A battle cruiser and a carrier group have just entered this sector! One of the other ships may have gotten out a distress call in time! They're headed this way!"

"Keep us alive, Major Hare," Michael said, standing up. The intensity of the situation kept him from being able to sit still. He glanced over his shoulder at one of the other crewmen and asked, "Status?"

The crewman had an edge of desperation in his voice. "Damage control reports a complete hull breach to our aft-port section and starboard central. Estimated crew fatality rate is approximately _SIXTY_ percent, Sir!"

"The engines aren't getting us there fast enough," Lynx muttered, closing his paws into fists. "Shift remaining shields to cover those sections then re-pressurize those damaged bays. The vacuum drag is slowing us down; that's all our shields are good for at this point." The feline frowned then added, "If this doesn't work, we'll lay in a course to ram the thing and jettison the escape pods; but I'm not about to give up just yet… I have a daughter to go home to, Major."

"And I, a wife," Peppy replied. Suddenly, without any warning, the ship veered hard to the side and the navigation control terminal burst into flames with the influx surge of power from a direct hit. Michael Lynx approached the communication's terminal and raised the fleet.

"This is Captain Michael Lynx… I have no wish to risk our lives on a creature of this magnitude," he said into the microphone built into the dash. "We must begin an immediate withdraw from this sector… I repeat, retreat back to Corneria; this is a job for the military." He then closed the frequency and turned back to the survivors on the bridge. "Fighting this would bring a needless death. We are outmatched and there is no humility in pulling back to save the lives of scientists. It's the honorable thing to do."

The ship jolted again and Captain Lynx lost his footing. He spilled away from the communications terminal and slammed back into the burning navigation control panel. Peppy, quick to unfasten his belt from the simplistic chair, slid along the deck, coming up besides him. The rabbit wrapped his paws around Michael's shoulders, pulling him from the burning terminal. The captain was injured, blood running down the side of his face but he was in otherwise good condition.

"I'll only ram that thing if it's my last option to buy time for the rest of the fleet," Michael panted softly. Another helmsman boarded the bridge and ran over to the controls, assuming the seat quickly. Two medics came in behind the helmsmen, one of them approaching the captain. Michael glanced up at the doctor tending to his wounds and said, "I'm fit for duty, just patch up this gash on my head; it's nothing but a damn scratch but the salty blood burns my eyes."

Peppy admired the man but he was hurt a little more than he would admit to, that was obvious. The doctor narrowed his eyes at the captain and said, "Your first officer just died trying to evacuate the engineering section. Don't make me relieve you of your command, Mike. I'm your physician and friend but you need surgery and a CAT scan. This is serious, you're in bad shape."

"Dammit," Captain Lynx groused. "This is not the time," he started only for Peppy to hold out a paw.

"I'll find a suitable replacement by rank," Peppy said. "Go with the doctor."

"You do it," Michael said. "Take over, Major Peppy Hare. The lives of these people are in your capable paws and I have faith in _you_, Major."

"Captain, I hardly…" He was immediately interrupted.

"Do it," the man interjected, gazing up at Peppy with an intense gaze. Peppy simply nodded. He didn't have the flask or his tobacco. He wasn't used to running an entire ship; he was a fighter pilot. This would be awkward and he wasn't trained to handle this sort of situation. Regardless, it was an occasion he decided he would rise to meet as best as he could.

Peppy watched as the medical officer nearly had to drag the captain off the bridge, more or less. The Hare then turned back to the view screen, licked his lips apprehensively and simply said, "All right, I know I'm not your captain and I know you people aren't trained in the evasive tactics of combat but if we all work together, we can get through this."

"We're behind you; none of us want to die," said the helmsman. "But if we run, this thing will pick us apart and kill us."

"Agreed," Peppy mused softly, shaking his head slowly. He then cut his gaze to two crewmen who dashed in from the port-side doors, seeking to put out the fire at the nearest terminal using anti-flammatory chemicals. His gaze panned back to the main view-screen. "Who else is with us, out there? Are we the only ship left?"

The helmsman nodded sullenly and said, "We're all that's left, sir."

Peppy Hare's facial features set tight and his eyes narrowed just a bit. He frowned thoughtfully, watching the creature on the screen and building up his resolve.

"All right," Peppy finally said, taking a long, slow breath. "Drop a high-latency Nova probe and punch the throttle; flank speed to port, forty-five degrees." The ship began to move and Peppy started to pace, keeping his paws balled up into furry fists. As soon as they moved into position, he quickly said, "Drop another Nova Probe and make a forty-five degree to port. I want to circle this guy, drop another Nova Probe, make it quick while he's distracted with the debris of the other ships; it looks as though he's trying to take down escape pods." Peppy then turned to one of the crewmembers at the back of the bridge and said, "head down to the turrets and calibrate them for reverse polarity magnetic pulses; I want to tractor in the escape pods while we sweep around in a circle, go."

The crewman took off through the doors, leaving the bridge in a hurry. Peppy then turned back to his helm officers and said, "We have three left to drop to surround this thing; I want to use these probes as explosives; I know they're volatile if you charge them with an ion pulse, so we're going to use our asteroid-cutting blasters to shoot each one. I think we should try and build these things with ion detonators built in." He paused, shaking his head slowly. It would be a great weapon on a fighter. They could be called 'Nova Bombs' since missiles don't necessarily have the same style of detonating system as he was talking about. Regardless, he had to keep his focus on the here and now… Nova Bombs would be something he'd add in his report to Command if he survived.

"These Nova Probes… I want to magnetize them," Peppy said. "How are we going to make it possible? Ideas?"

A young ensign over by the tactical station glanced over his shoulder and said, "We could use a reverse polarity version of our degaussing field that we use to push away some asteroids and archaic space mines from the old Titanian War. You think that thing is metallic enough to draw the Nova Probes in?"

"Bring up a C-7 sectional on the main screen," Peppy said. A diagram of the monster came up on the main view screen. Peppy stopped his pacing and folded his arms across his chest. "There are traces of metal throughout its body; it's not a machine though. That's interesting. It looks half biological, like a sea creature."

"But why can't we hurt it otherwise? Tissue should tear with the shrapnel of those other ships," said another faceless name from the background of the bridge.

Peppy frowned. "It seems that it has a thick hide designed to survive the punishment of space travel. All right, prepare to detonate the probes."

Once the ship moved back starboard, at a twenty degree angle, they punched the throttle, using the maneuvering thrusters to move diagonally to keep their broadside towards the creature as best as possible, so that it wouldn't be able to attack the engines or bridge section of the ship.

"Scanners indicate that it has components underneath the armored skin," called a crewman from his station.

Peppy lifted his right paw then gestured towards the view screen and said, "Fire the remaining Nova Probes."

"Probes away," reported the helmsman, doubling duty as a tactical officer. A moment later he said, "I have reports from below that several of the escape pods have been picked up. There are only two left on this course."

"As soon as we net them, cut away from this thing." Peppy cleared his throat then said, "In fact, begin your trajectory now; we'll grab the pods at a steep angle. I don't want to waste any time. Begin your course change."

"Aye!" replied the crewman, punching in numbers on his console. The Pegasus eased away from the Aparoid, leaving a glittery trail of debris in its wake from the incredible damage. A miasma of plasma energy lanced past the ship, narrowly missing it. Peppy breathed a short-lived sigh of relief but knew the Aparoid wasn't finished with them yet.

"Get some good distance between us as quickly as possible," Peppy said, approaching the helmsman. That shot he'd taken earlier didn't do him justice; the rabbit's nerves were nearly shot. He had to bit on his lower lip to suppress the basic animal instincts of wanting to dart away. "Stupid bunny, just stand your ground," Peppy whispered, scolding himself.

The helmsman asked, "Pardon, Sir?"

Peppy shook his head and said, "Nothing; we rabbits don't bare a great-many teeth when we fight, that's all."

"You've put up a helluva fight, Sir," reported the canine. "Captain Lynx owes you a debt for keeping his ship in one piece so far."

Peppy patted the young officer on his shoulder in an appreciative manner. "Let's not speak too soon, Ensign. You're flying this thing; I'm just trying to figure out what's going on like everyone else. All right, I think we've got the distance we need… Detonate the Nova Probes with the ion cannons."

An aft-visual appeared on screen. A few bluish globes of energy flew towards the Aparoid, connecting with the Probes. They detonated as planned and several of the large wings disappeared. Some of the armor appeared to be cracked and the strange life form jerked away, slamming into the burning hull of the Bismuth.

"It's not yet defeated sir!" cried one of the crew members.

Peppy smirked, watching the screen intently. "But we sure as heck hurt the son of a gun. Do we have any probes left?"

"Aye Sir, two remain."

Peppy nodded then said, "Prepare the first one; we'll keep the other as our last means of defense. We'll trick him and make him think we have plenty but are trying not to kill him. Maybe he'll back off and head for the hills. If he goes offensive again, after this probe, we'll hit him with that second one." The Major placed his paw upon his chin, approaching the view screen at the front of the bridge. "You know, smack him in the face as a punishment for each aggressive action he tries to take. That'll let him know that we're hurting him out of self defense and maybe he'll get the idea. He might be surprised we're not dead yet and assume that we're not a pushover. Sometimes you have to use intimidation in your diplomacy."

Sure enough, the Aparoid took a moment to gather itself then began a new attack pattern. Another Nova Probe rushed out of the aft tube. Once the probe collided with the attacker, a turret on the Pegasus opened fire and the ion cannon destroyed the probe, igniting the components with the ion charge. It exploded in a blinding flash, throwing the Aparoid completely through the ruined hull of the Bismuth. The Pegasus bridge crew cheered, watching it struggle.

A voice at the back of the bridge caused everyone to look over their shoulder at the main doors. "You're quite the commanding officer, Major!" Michael Lynx had a bandage over his head, diagonally across his forehead. The gauze was soaked to a light coloration of red but he looked otherwise well. "I've lost enough blood that I can hardly think but one thing is certain; we're still alive. Far more than I can say for the rest of this fleet."

The helmsman called their attention back to the view screen. "It's not over yet!" He then added, "Look!" and pointed his paw at the monitor.

"Fire the last probe," Peppy grumbled, starting to think of new ideas for self defense. The last probe entered the view screen at the bottom, collided with the enemy then a short burst of ion cannon fire caused the probe to burst.

"Surely it cannot take much more punishment," said the ensign from his station. "But it doesn't look defeated either. That sort of punishment would have finished this ship with ease. Our main deflectors and shields are nearly gone. We have all available energy transferred to the shields remaining over the hull breach. So long as they hold out, the hole in our hull shouldn't slow us down much."

"He's not finished fighting," Peppy muttered, watching the giant opponent swarm through the wreckage of the decimated fleet. He clinched his paws shut, trying to think of something else to try to use as a weapon. Suddenly, an idea hit him; the rabbit snapped his furry fingertips. "That's it!"

The crew glanced up at him and he returned a smile to them. "We'll need to use one of the escape pods and this will be tricky. When I say this is dangerous, I mean it's like being a kid again, strike a match in a room full of fuel after your parents told you what a dumb idea that would be."

"We're going to break rules on purpose?" Lynx asked.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Peppy. "We'll manually fill an escape pod with a fuel rod from our engines. We'll strike the pod with our ion cannon but reverse the polarity so that we're hitting it with a negative ion charge. I did a science experiment on this in my Sophomore year because I asked my father why fuel rods have to be kept away from negative ionic charges, like static electricity. He had me do a project to find out why… it's because a negative ionic pulse fluctuation destabilizes the molecules… Geeze, I'd need an astrophysicist to help me explain, let alone understand it better… Anyhow, it's like…"

Lynx shook his head slowly, "Spallation, using low energy neutrons, which can sometimes be far more reactive. Yes, I understand better than you realize; the Major is correct… our fuel rods are highly volatile around certain forms of energy. A negatively charged ion cannon would cause a reaction like that of a super weapon. We're told not to light that match in the gasoline shed but… what he's proposing is throwing a _grenade_ into the gasoline shed, then launching that shed at our enemy before the grenade detonates."

The helmsman's jaw dropped, glancing up at Peppy. He then asked, "We'll need more space between the Pegasus and the Aparoid; if he continues with an offensive, the proximity could be dangerous…"

Peppy nodded slowly and continued the man's sentence. "…If not downright lethal. Flank speed ahead, helm. Michael, it's your bridge; I'll go down and supervise loading up the Escape Pod with a fuel rod."

Lynx shook his head and said, "No, you've kept us alive with your evasion tactics, Peppy. I'll supervise installing a fuel rod into an escape pod. It will take some time; keep us alive while we prepare this thing and gift wrap it." The Captain turned back to the double doors and left the bridge.

Peppy swallowed, realizing just how deadly his idea sounded. "I need to take up a hobby when this is over." His words were more for himself than for the crew and yet the man at the helm cleared his throat, attracting Peppy's attention.

"You could always try working on maps." The room fell silent. "Sorry, Sir. A dumb idea. What's our course?"

Peppy shook his head and said, "No, that sounds like it would be an enjoyable hobby. I'll look into it one day. Lay in a course for the asteroids at the edge of the sector. Charge the hull with our degaussing equipment in reverse polarity but start it at a subtle power."

"What?" Someone at the engineering station turned around to face Peppy. "You want to _attract_ asteroids to us?"

"At low power," Peppy replied firmly. "Yes, I know most asteroids are more than just rock. Most of them have a high concentration of metal elements in them. I want to surround our ship in asteroids. Bring'em in slow then up the power once they touch our hull. I want to keep them attached to us magnetically, so we can use them as armor when that thing is ready with its second wave. It's our only chance, we won't survive one more energy attack and that thing has advanced weapons. This is our last hope, to give Captain Lynx enough time to finish the weapon."

"Oh my God," the man replied, turning back to the engineering station. "All right, Major, I'm magnetizing the hull, starting with low power in pulse form."

Peppy nodded, settling into the captain's seat in an attempt to remain calm. "Very good, take us into the asteroid field, Helm. So much for the Pegasus' new paint job…" The rabbit sighed, running his paws through his short head-fur. Within moments, the Pegasus moved into the asteroid field that created a sort of wall at the edge of the nebula.

Asteroids slowly began to approach the ship until brushing up against its hull, drawn secure by the reverse-polarity degaussing technique. The helm brought the ship in slowly enough that the ratio of weight to momentum wouldn't simply cause these rocks to rip through the metal plating. The further Pegasus flew into the field, the more frustrated the Aparoid seemed to grow. With its remaining wings, it swatted the large rocks in its path, only serving to damage itself.

Peppy kept the Aparoid on the main view screen, folding his arms and looking stoic at the center of the bridge. His eyes narrowed, watching as the angered beast continued to tear after the Pegasus, barreling through the obstacle course between them. His fists tightened – the only sign of emotion.

"We've now managed to cover _ninety-eight percent_ of the ship's surface, Major." The voice belonged to one of the crewmembers in the back, monitoring damage reports and sensors. "Our navigation is minimal; the ship is now too clumsy to steer. May I suggest we return to open airspace, as we cannot avoid collision with larger rocks, should we venture further? Also, our long range scanners have a shortened range due to the elements in these asteroids."

"Helm, take us back out," Peppy ordered. Silence returned as the Pegasus made a wide arc, heading back for open airspace. The Aparoid struggled through the asteroids, instead of utilizing an intercept course it appeared to opt for mimicking the Pegasus' course and setting. Peppy tapped his chin then announced, "He's smart. He knows a collision with a large asteroid would only hurt him… so instead of trying to cut us off at the pass, he's going to follow us, let us take the brunt of any collision, and follow us back to safety. He seems patient and clever, yet his… _body language_, if you will, seems erratic and shows signs of frustration."

A deep voice came from the doorway at the rear corner of the bridge. "I would call any attempts to anticipate our enemy a foolish endeavor."

Peppy Hare glanced over his shoulder, eyeing one of the automated piloting robots. It stepped onto the bridge and approached Peppy then pivoted sharply and headed towards the station that had been engulfed in flames only fifteen minutes prior. It knelt down and began a repair procedure. Peppy cleared his throat and asked, "And what is your designation, robot?"

"Robotic Operating Buddy NUS/63," it replied. "I am a top-of-the-line model; the latest advance in artificial intelligence and artificial personality emulation." It continued its repair efforts on the damaged console while it spoke, using a rather monotone voice.

"Yeah," Peppy agreed in a sarcastic tone, "You don't just emulate it, you _radiate_ with personality. So, our opponent is half organic and half machine. We're organic and you're a machine. Forget that console for now and come up here with me. Let's add a computational edge on our game plan. It's the only way we'll be able to match wits."

"Affirmative," replied NUS-63. It stood up and approached Peppy then pivoted about to face the view screen. "May I recommend, upon exit of the asteroid field, firing a wide-yield missile into the nearest, largest asteroid to block this enemy's path and slow it down?"

Peppy grinned a bit, turned to his helmsman and said, "You heard the bot; do it." He then turned back to NUS-63 and added, "So you're the sixty-third reiteration of your build?"

It nodded as if to emulate a mortal gesture. "That is an accurate assumption; every memory I've acquired will be transferred to my replacement in the future when one is available."

"Well I'll be damned," Peppy chuckled, turning back to the view screen. They were only a few moments from passing back into clear space. "I'll have to tell James about you; maybe we can purchase a Rob – NUS64 to pilot our ship, when we get our Mercenary licensing… have one thrown in on the side for the purchase of a dreadnaught class cruiser. When's the new model due out?"

"That information is unknown at this time," replied NUS – 63, keeping its optical sensors facing towards the view screen. "I do not recommend any pattern of trajectory, short of Y equals M X plus B; lay in the coordinates for sixty-one mark fourteen by two-alpha-three, plugging in the variables respectively."

The helmsman glanced back at Peppy for confirmation and saw the rabbit nod. Hare said, "He's a computer; he's done the math. Plug it in, set the yield wide and fire, Ensign."

Just as the Pegasus began to pass through the final line of asteroids, a wide-burst missile fired from a hatch mounted adjacent to the engine booster. The boosters were the only part of the Pegasus _not_ to be covered by asteroids. It immediately collided with a massive floating rock, less than one hundred yards from the Aparoid. The bridge crew cheered, watching their enemy struggle, freshly damaged from the attack.

"That's pretty clever, bot," Peppy said, with a bit of a smile. "You've just sold me on your future replacing model. ROB – NUS64, whenever he hits the market. All right, crew, let's punch the throttle and get some distance between ourselves and this monstrosity."

The Pegasus engines returned to full thrust power but the ship moved slowly under the tremendous new weight. Or so Peppy assumed. He turned to the robot and asked, "Any ideas to help us reach terminal velocity?"

"Our weight does not hinder our velocity by very much; space equates to vacuum and all objects, light or heavy, no longer apply to the variables of atmospheric travel. Our problem appears to be in the loss of a fuel rod from our engineering section. The loss of power would result in the decrease of our maximum output in increments pertaining to speed."

Peppy glanced back at the screen then returned his gaze to the robot before him. "What did you say about emulating personality again? I bet your predecessor was a real charmer, too."

"Ahh, sarcasm is an interesting rebuttal coming from a man under stress with the knowledge that his supporting fleet has been decimated. Also…" The robot was suddenly interrupted by Peppy.

"Hush," commanded the Major. "How can we get ourselves to go faster?"

"Major, have you ever pushed your legs off of the wall in a swimming pool to increase your velocity?" The robot's quandary caused Peppy to ponder for a moment. The rabbit then snapped his fingers.

"There's that emulated sterling wit!" cried Hare. "Helm, how difficult would it be to release one asteroid at the back of the ship. Use a tractor beam to place it directly in front of the engine boosters. Meanwhile, shut down our forward thrust. We'll drift while you use the tractor beam to place the asteroid in front of the booster, then release the tractor beam, punch the throttle to full and … let's see if it works."

"Aye, Major!" replied the helmsman.

Peppy watched the view screen intently. A moment later, the ship grunted as if increasing in speed. A large asteroid floated into view, pushed from the powerful plasma engine booster. The ship seemed to increase in speed if only for a few moments while the asteroid made a line directly for the Aparoid as it emerged from the dense field. The two collided, causing another cheer from the bridge crew.

"Nice work," Peppy told the robot. He was excited; so far every command had worked and his new mechanical advisor proved a capable ally.

"Scan reports are in," said a crewman from the back of the bridge. Peppy nodded for the man to continue and so he did. "Status and short-range scans show that several major mechanical components are damaged on the target. From what I can gather sir, I do believe that its trans-warp ability has been impaired, as well as its ability to communicate by subspace waves. Its navigational abilities remain unaffected. It could technically still flee and leave us in the dust if it desired to do so, Major."

"Very good, Lieutenant," replied Peppy, casting his gaze back to the view screen. The rabbit folded his paws behind his back, then said, "Now we wait to hear from Captain Lynx. As soon as he's ready with the escape pod 'missile', we'll be ready to finish this thing for good."

The helmsman looked up from his console and exclaimed, "The enemy is now increasing in forward velocity!"

"Crap," Peppy muttered. He turned his attention to the aft-view at the front of the bridge and returned to his stoic demeanor; his body language radiated with poise, helping to keep the rest of the crew calm as well. Peppy, surprised that he was keeping his nerves under control, began to realize that he was calmer under pressure than he initially gave himself credit for. No scotch, no tobacco; Peppy kept calm and confident in a moment that really counted. It boosted his inner confidence.

The Aparoid continued to close in, beginning another attack pattern. Peppy opened a public address channel, warning the rest of the crew to brace for possible impact. Just as he gave the warning, the Aparoid opened fire with an energy discharge weapon. It sheered off one of the asteroids from the Pegasus' hull. Pegasus began to turn, attempting to present an armored side towards the opponent.

The next energy attack caused yet another asteroid to veer off into space, causing the ship to shutter gently. Peppy felt tense; his heart was beating quickly again. Remaining stoic became a challenge but he went out of his way to remain perfectly still. Major Hare showed no emotion, save for the subtle flinch with every attack made against Pegasus' new coating of armor. The asteroids were slowly picked off of the hull causing an incredibly loud screeching noise.

Just then, Captain Lynx came over the intercom. "It's ready; fire at will, Major Hare."

Peppy turned to the helmsman and shouted, "NOW, Ensign!" Then cut his eyes back to the view screen. An escape pod flew onto the screen, heading for the Aparoid. Seconds later, a negative-charged ion canon opened fire. The black-yet-glowing orb of energy rushed after the escape pod and collided with its target. The incredible implosion was the immediate result from a powerful chain reaction on the atomic level.

The imploding reaction drew in a great deal of debris from the demolished fleet, pelting the Aparoid with large scraps of metal. Once the reverse-explosion cleared, the heavily damaged enemy target began to fold its remaining wings behind its back. Its insect-like tail angled about at forty-five degrees and an energy discharge lanced out into the remaining debris. It seemed to use this energy canon almost like a tractor beam, drawing in the remaining debris and spewing it at the Pegasus.

The Pegasus shuttered hard, pelted furiously by a debris shower which cleared off the asteroid armor on the entire Starboard side of the ship. Sweat moistened the fur over Peppy's brow; his tension felt palpable. He almost felt startled when the helmsman shouted, "It's changing its course, Major…"

Peppy stayed quiet, just watching the screen for a moment. He furrowed his brows, whispering, "What is this thing doing? Why is it just dinkin' around, suddenly?"

The Aparoid opened a channel to the Pegasus and announced, "You will join us; as we are the path to evolution. In time, all shall join us. We the Aparoid race will bring harmony to your existence. Know that, in time, you must all evolve by becoming incorporated into our way of life." The enemy continued on its new trajectory, heading away from the Pegasus.

"What's it doing?" Peppy asked, approaching the Ensign at the helm. "Is it coming about?"

"Negative Sir," said the young man. "It's still heading away from us. Its course, current speed and heading, will take it to the edge of the Lylat system. We're already at a point where Solar's gravitational field has little effect, Major."

"We're nearly defeated; why would it turn and run now?" Peppy mused aloud. He turned to NUS – 63 for an answer.

NUS-63 replied, "Perhaps we managed to intimidate this enemy, or perhaps it wishes to returned to its home for reinforcements with its newly acquired knowledge on our system," in a monotone voice.

Peppy thought for a moment then turned back to the screen, watching the Aparoid grow smaller as it distanced itself from the Pegasus. "Intimidating it would suggest that it doesn't _know_ how close we came to destruction. Perhaps we damaged its ability to assess our damage; maybe we destroyed its sensors?" He then turned back to the officer at the Helm and asked, "Has it changed its current heading at all?"

"Negative, Sir. The… 'aparoid' is still heading towards the edge of Lylat orbital boundaries. It appears to be picking up speed and should reach its critical velocity shortly."

"Lay in a pursuit course." Peppy folded his arms.

"Excuse me, Major?" replied the young Ensign.

Peppy blinked. He then repeated himself, adding, "Either that thing is on its last leg; its metaphorical death bed, or it's heading for reinforcements. _ONE_ enemy decimated an entire fleet. An entire fleet of those… _Aparoids_ would decimate Lylat. If we chase it, we'll either scare it off for good or we'll catch up to it and deliver the Coupe De Gras, Ensign. Either way, at the very _least_, I want to make sure it keeps going. I don't want that thing making a wide U-turn when we're not looking. We may be a science vessel but we still have to ensure that it doesn't set its sights on Corneria."

"…a-Aye, Sir." The ensign punched in the coordinates and the Pegasus began to limp in pursuit of the departing Aparoid. The Aparoid, however, out maneuvered and outran the Pegasus and continued on its course for deep space, leaving the Pegasus far behind. Fifteen unnervingly silent minutes passed before the Aparoid became a mere blip on their long-range scanners. The helmsman looked up at Major Hare and said, "We're unable to maintain pursuit of the target, Major. It has crossed into deep space and is traveling at nearly double our current rate of speed, Sir."

Reluctantly, Peppy said, "Break pursuit; lay in a course for Corneria." To his words, the entire bridge seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Peppy took a moment to reflect on what had just occurred then turned to the rest of the bridge and told them, "Until further notice, or unless Corneria overrides this order, you're all under orders to remain completely quiet about this enemy. This… _Aparoid_ is a classified subject. I have reason to believe that Venom may have tortured or tried to mutate that being. The more our enemies know of its existence, the more they'll attempt to utilize it in an attack against Corneria. So, as far as this crew is concerned, the Aparoid does _not_ exist until further notice. Is that clear?"

The entire bridge replied in unison with a resounding, "Yes Sir!"

Peppy turned to the robot and asked, "Was that reply from everyone here?"

NUS – 63 offered a silly looking nod then said, "Seven reported voices on record, there are eight crewmembers aboard this bridge, counting yourself, Major."

"Then that's everyone but me," Peppy said, adding, "You want to emulate personality, then stay concise but simplistic. Just say, 'Everyone but you, Major.' It's a great deal easier."

"I have confirmed a reply for _everyone but you, Major_," replied the machine.

Peppy grinned and lifted a paw to pat the robot's shoulder. "You're learning. Maybe there's hope yet for your successor. Once we're out of range and I feel that we're a safe distance from that _thing_, I'm heading to the observation lounge for…" Peppy paused for a moment. He wanted to go for a drink but after seeing that he had the ability to remain calm under fire, he began to realize that he might not need it after all. He took a long, slow breath then continued with, "…some fresh air; it's stuffy in here."

NUS – 63, unable to comprehend the metaphor, turned back to the smoldering control panel, saying, "The slightly elevated carbon monoxide level is due to the burned out control panel. I'll re-optimize the life support settings to compensate for the 'stuffiness' you seem to be experiencing, Major."

Peppy cast a sidelong grin at the robotic contraption, which kneeled down besides the burnt-out station. "This is where I offer a witty retort, just to show you 'how it's done', but… You know what? I've really got nothing." He then turned to the rest of the crew and said, "Thank you all for doing your jobs to the best of your ability. We may not have been able to save the rest of our fleet but I will still recommend that each and every one of you is recognized for your heroic deeds in battle. Your military records will reflect your efforts. You've saved the last of a group of scientists by sticking together as a crew. We've even managed to rescue a small group of escape pods from a paw-full of survivors. While I wish there were more, you all did your best. Captain Michael Lynx should be _proud_ to command such a fine crew. Furthermore," said Peppy, licking his lips.

He smiled and added, "I think, with the future refit of the Pegasus, you'll all be getting some very deserved shore leave. While I can't necessarily _promise_ that, I have a feeling that Pegasus won't be going out to cruise for quite some time. Thank you, gentlemen, for doing what you do best, so that I can return home to my wife, Vivian. And Captain Lynx appreciates your efforts so he can go home and raise his little girl, Miyu. All right, I've said my speech; I don't do it often and I'm not all that good at it. So, again, thank you." He took one last glance at the view screen.

Satisfied that the enemy, who identified itself as an 'Aparoid,' was _not_ coming back after them, he turned for the exit and walked off the bridge. His ears were filled with soft applause from behind. It made him feel good, deep down inside. Peppy wondered if the newly-promoted Sergeant, John Pepper, felt this way when people clapped for _his_ speeches. The rabbit grinned inwardly to himself, heading down the hallway, leaving the Pegasus' command center behind.

"Like being in command?" came the voice of Michael Lynx over his shoulder. He, too, had heard the applause as Peppy left the bridge. "I could always talk to the brass and maybe get you your own ship."

Peppy's grin broadened just a bit. "You know, I think I'm happy with being a fighter pilot. I'll give it some thought but I'd be more than satisfied being the Veteran Advisor to a good _natural_ leader. Then again, if someone were to turn around and ask me to become General one day, I might consider it… but I'm thirty-three and have a lot of combat sorties left ahead of me. Thanks for the experience, Michael. I won't forget it."

Lynx nodded firmly. "Thanks for saving our tails, back there. You'll undoubtedly receive a medal for your service to the fleet, over all of this. Wanna have a cigar and a shot with me in my ready room, Hare?"

The Major came to a stop, turned around in the hallway and looked the aristocratic feline over with a smirk. "You know, I think I'm going to give all that up; I'm ready to try a pipe for a few years, then maybe quit all together. Thanks though. Good luck with that little girl of yours; I think Vivian has her sights set on a daughter, too. Something tells me that I should head home to my wife and take care of that little whim."

Lynx grinned for a moment but it broadened into a genuine smile. "You're a stand up guy, Peppy Hare. I wonder if you'll live to a ripe old age, outlive every one of us, and retire in style."

"Me? Retire in _style_?" Peppy chuckled a bit, asking, "What makes you think I'd go out with a bang?"

"After seeing the way you handled that target back there? Then chasing after it?" Michael laughed, shaking his head, "I wouldn't be surprised if you had the gull to fly an entire ship right into an enemy's home planet. Not saying that you've gotta go flying kamikaze into Venom or something to prove my point but…" He trailed off for a moment, coming up alongside of Hare. The two began walking, side by side, down the hallway towards the Observation Lounge. "I'm willing to bet if you had the chance to fly against a whole army of those damn things, Pegasus or not, you'd have no qualms about driving a ship right through the center of their home world, going out in glory. I could see it in your eyes."

Peppy glanced at the lynx for a moment then said, "I'm sure we've seen the last of that monstrosity, Michael. I doubt we'll see them ever again. If we do, it won't be for a _long_ time. Besides, why would I go out in a blaze of glory like that, when I have a wife waiting for me at home?"

The Captain nodded slightly. "Let's hope you're right, pal. And yet, I can't help but have this nagging sensation; I don't think Lylat has seen the last of 'em."

Peppy stopped in front of the Observation Lounge doors, turned to the other man and said, "We'll deal with that bridge when we come to it."

"Hell, I probably won't even be around, if it happens," Lynx replied. "But if I am, I'll want to lead a battleship into the fray against those things. Thanks again, Major. I'll let you know when we arrive at port over Corneria."

Peppy reached his paw out and the two shook. "Thanks again for your faith in me, Michael. I've never had someone hand me control of their bridge, before."

"My gut feeling is seldom wrong," replied the Captain with a bright smile. "Now if I could just brush up on my tactical battle techniques, I'd make a good skipper on a big battleship. And to think my little girl says she wants to fly a _fighter_. Who'd have thought, huh?" They concluded their handshake.

Peppy stepped into the lounge and Captain Michael Lynx turned back towards the bridge. Peppy's thoughts turned to his wife, Vivian. He was glad to have had the opportunity to save the Pegasus but his attention turned to just what he would do when he got home to his mate… She'd asked him to stay home and avoid space, combat and the rest of Lylat. He couldn't get over the fact that she'd somehow warned him. Now he planned to make it up to her upon return to Corneria. He had the sudden urge to spend more time with her while technically still on Shore-Leave.

And that's just what he would do…

* * *

A/N: _I just love this story. It's so much fun to write. And of course we've not even gotten to the REALLY good part of the story yet! Lucy still has to be born, then of course we have to see Peppy, Pigma and James fly against Venom, a plant that shuns all political diplomacy with Corneria and the rest of Lylat. Then Peppy will go underground with Fox and crew for a short while… Then the modern StarFox stories as we know them… The death of his wife from illness, the future, his heroic Arwing flight to save General Pepper in downtown Corneria during the Aparoid invasion… And of course, acting out Captain Lynx's prediction of flying the GreatFox into the Aparoid homeworld… then his time as General and finally, giving advice as an old man to Fox McCloud… to propose to Krystal and take her as his wife. Yes, Peppy still has a long life ahead and I plan to continue on with this story. _

_Again, I'll take my time with this one… I don't want to tell a rushed, dull story about the only consistency to live through Fox McCloud's entire life, through multiple reiterations of the StarFox team. Yes, Peppy is an interesting man and I want to take my time to properly portray that. _

_Until next time, when I have Chapter 5 ready… this is Kit, saying to all of you: THANKS FOR READING! Let me know what you thought! _

_Oh, and sorry it took so long. Btw, I'm almost finished with Chapter 21 of Reflections Of a New Generation (or "reflections of the distant future" for those of you who remember when I almost called the story by that title.) I'll have it posted very soon. Oo-da-lolly! _


	5. Chapter 5: How StarFox Got Its Name

Chapter -5-  
"Little Rich Girl"

**"Papa?" Lucy's voice was ever-so-cute.** Her eyes sparkled when she used this tone and even her father found her irresistible and impossible to ignore.

A smile tugged at Peppy's maw, half hidden by the growing mustache, whiskers and beard. He tilted his head, leaning back on his favorite reclining chair. "Yes, pumpkin?"

"I know this is probably an awkward subject but… I found Fox's mother's dress in storage and Fox seemed pensive when he saw it. In fact, he downright appeared sick. I asked him if he was still apprehensive about his mother's death and he said he wasn't then pointed out the fact he had pictures of her on his dresser. But he wouldn't say why the sight of that dress bothered him."

Peppy brought a paw up to his lengthy chin whiskers and gave a slight tug then shook his head. "There was a girl who wore that dress long after Vixy passed away. Not many people know this but that girl has a history that predates even Fox McCloud. She's …well, no one knows what really happened to her but before Fox met her by accident, the second iteration of Galaxy Dog was looking for their first high-dollar mission as a mercenary team. As it turns out, that mission was full of danger and the money was earned with sweat and hard work. It was Fara's father who suggested we take the name, "Star Fox." It's been that way ever since."

"It was?"

"Yes, it sure was."

"So, who is Fara?"

"Fox McCloud's first great love. Didn't I tell you that story already?"

Lucy nodded slowly, "Right okay. I didn't really remember the name – that was the girl that Fox met on a freighter when you guys stowed away from Papetoon to Corneria, right?" Lucy paused, bringing a finger to her lip. She looked over the retired General and smiled. "Tell me the story of how Star Fox got its name then."

Peppy took a sip of caffeine-free tea then placed the mug on the stand adjacent to his reclining chair. "Alright, puddin', but do me a favor… don't bring up Fara's name around Fox. It's a reminder of hard times in the past. It reminds him of a loss that was hard on him. That's why he acted the way he did when he saw the dress you found in storage. Now… the story goes something like this…"

x-

* * *

**James McCloud ran his fingers back through his hair with a sigh.** He took his aviator sunshades off, folded them up and put them into his left breast pocket. "Okay, Pigma, Peppy… The GreatFox is on order but before we can take delivery, we have to show that we're actually an operational Mercenary team. I'm not really fond of the name "Galaxy Dog" anymore. I want something with a little more kick."

"I'm sure the perfect name will come in time, no use rushing it," said Peppy. The cigar bounced between his teeth as he spoke. "If we find work before we come up with a new name, we'll just use Galaxy Dog since the trademark is still good. No use picking out something we'll grow to hate later on, right?"

"Pigma?" James tilted his head.

"Whichever. Peppy's right, I guess. If we wait until we come up with the perfect name… something catchy and such, it'll help attract more business. Whatever we name it, it should have the word '_Star_' in it. It just makes it sound awesome. Would you rather fly a _Jet Fighter_ or a _Star Fighter_? Would you rather lead a 'Dreadnaught' or a _Star Ship_? If we add a word that has power it'll probably double our earnings in the long run."

James nodded slowly. "Fair enough. I'm glad you weren't going to suggest something off the cuff like 'Death Hog'."

Pigma smirked. "That was my next suggestion. Something tells me you wouldn't have liked it, though."

Peppy used his tongue to slide the stogie over to the corner of his mouth so he could take a sip from his whisky glass. "I love this damn bar. Finest whisky on Corneria."

"Yeah? Why's that?" asked Pigma. "Is there any money in running Whiskey like this to other planets?"

Peppy shook his head, placing the glass back on the table. "Not really. Y'see, the secret is in the process, Dengar m'boy. The aged oak barrels they have in that odd looking tower behind the bar, for example. They have these barrels up on the top three floors and they sit there in the humidity for _years_. Then, for high roller customers like m'self, they crack open a barrel and bring it down and pour it for the patron right here on location. Transportation to a different climate doesn't hurt anything but then you're putting overhead on a product that bourbon makers can make at little cost in their own backyard if they know what to do. The owner of this bar would be happy to sell it to us, but we wouldn't find a buyer who wants to pay for transportation."

"Meh." The hog leaned back in his chair then took another drink of his brand name beer. "I've never been much of a hard liquor guy anyhow. So… where should we turn for quick money? We're not going to make anything just sitting here talking about it."

James reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a sheet of paper then laid it down on the table. "Gentleman, this is the classifieds for people in our line of work. The first job is probably going to be boring because we have to get our name out there. I'm not going to lie, it'll probably be something like running an escort for a rich person."

"Yeah… that sucks," Pigma mused. "But cash is cash. We don't have a ship but we have fighters. What about those modified planes you have in the workshop? What'd you call'em? Wavyrn… wyvryn? Way-vren?"

James grinned. "You're talking about my fighter that I converted into a racer for a while. Beltino and I stumbled across a way to greatly reduced gravity in a bubble that's big enough to surround a fighter. We sold the rights to Space Dynamics but they're sitting on the patent right now. However, I had Toad install three units into some modified M-Class fighters. They're great for atmospheric combat. What's your question about'em?"

"Well, what kind of fuel ratio are we talking about? An escort is one thing, but we have to make sure we can do long range jobs without running out of gas."

Peppy glanced back to James, "Pigma is right. Can we install reserve tanks on these things?"

James nodded with a slight grin. "Yes, we sure can. We could fly from Corneria to Venom and back so long as we didn't use the boost. Logically, flying four planets away would be safest if we had a refueling ship somewhere at the midpoint but that's neither here nor there."

"What's the pros and cons of an extended fuel tank?" asked Dengar.

James turned the page around so they could see what was on the list. "Less smart missiles. No big deal for an escort job. But if we were in a war zone, it might mean the difference between obvious success and possible capture or destruction. Then again, if we work together as a team, I'd say we could survive just about anything. We're all great pilots. A trifecta. A hat trick. We're a triforce of…"

"Just stop," said Pigma. He reached for the letter and took a moment to peruse it. "Wow, look at number three…" He turned the page back around for them to look. "Phoenix Enterprises has need of an escort? The CEO is frickin' loaded. He's a self-made trillionaire."

Peppy let out a low whistle. "I wonder why he'd need a mercenary team?"

Pigma put his beer back down and thrust his hands out. "Uh… DUH? Because he's so frickin' RICH that he doesn't trust pirates and raiders from jumping his butt in the asteroid belt? Isn't it obvious?"

James pulled out his fancy cell phone and surfed the planetary index records. He grinned and glanced up. "I found a website that says that Zerda Phoenix is sending his wife and daughter back to Corneria but headed in a different direction to personally oversee the opening of a new Phoenix Transportation hub on Papetoon. It also says he's there to debut a new line of sports cars that his company is vested in."

Peppy finished his bourbon and put the glass back on the table. "Yeah, they own a third of the company. It's a start up company – they only have a prototype on the market so far. By the time that little girl of his is old enough to drive, she'll probably be driving a model that sells for ten times as much as the first model. I've seen those things… they're frickin' hot. Fast, too. They're the first sports car to go without wheels. I wonder how it drives."

McCloud chuckled. "Maybe if we think up a flashly name, we'll all own one soon. Okay, guys… I'll contact Phoenix Transportation and let you boys know when we meet with the client."

"Sounds good to me," said Dengar.

"See you then James. Give my godson a hug and a kiss for me."

Before James could reply, Pigma rolled his eyes. "You guys are gross. Some sort of bro-mance brewing between you two, I swear. See you guys later. Let me know when it's time to fly."

James took the remarks in stride from his good-natured personality. "Yeah, yeah. See you two later."

x-

* * *

_Thirty-six hours later…_

**Peppy held the match in front of his cigar, using his other paw to protect the flame**. "I swear," he said, causing the cigar to dance between his teeth, "I know I said I'd only smoke and drink at the bar to help me break the habit but… With Vivian so far away, with her parents on Eledard for a whole month, I just get antsy sometimes. I'm a man. I'm a rabbit. We have needs. This calms me down. There are a _lot_ of women here. I just… I need a smoke."

James lifted his paws defensively. "I didn't say a word. I can understand, though. I can't help but look at some of these women; classy dames, that's for sure." His eyes shifted back to the women who passed by. Several of them had their eyes on the two pilots. A few even offered a flirty wink, nod or smile. James glanced back at his watch then sighed. "Where the hell is Pigma?"

"It's probably better than he's not here," said Peppy. "He's not the classiest man, after all."

The fox nodded then lowered his left wrist, trying not to make contact with the women that surrounded them. "Works for me. Damn, though, where are all these girls coming from?"

"Phoenix Transportation has a contract with one of the most elite finishing schools in Lylat. They provide free transportation to and from the campus. Saving rich girl's money will buy rapport from their rich daddies, Jim." Peppy took another long drag on his cigar then sighed in content. Two smoke rings floated up from his maw. He pursed his lips together then blew a plume straight through both rings."

"Nice," said McCloud. "You blow smoke just as good as you pilot."

"Heh." Peppy shrugged. "Now if Pigma could pilot as well as _he_ 'blows smoke', we'd be the finest mercenary squadron in the galaxy."

James snorted quietly in an attempt to stifle his laughter. The last of the females passed by. She turned to look over her shoulder at them and James met her gaze for a moment. He licked his lips then turned away as she rounded a corner. "Damn, she was a fine looking fennec."

"You should try dating again."

James changed his demeanor. "C'mon, Peppy. We've been over this."

"Aw, c'mon. Having a woman around is good for Fox. Don't you want him to grow up seeing how a marriage works, and how a man and a woman work together as a team? You don't want him to grow up being socially awkward, do you?"

James held a paw up. "Not yet. Just… maybe a little dating, but I wouldn't want Fox to meet anyone I am seeing until I've decided if she's someone special. If the relationship didn't work out, I wouldn't want to take another person out of Fox's life. I wouldn't want him to grow up becoming resentful of women all together."

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm talking about _your_ needs as a man. Are you kidding? The way that girl was looking at you just now? It has to start somewhere. Attraction is a good place. And she's coming from a finishing school, so she's lady-like in public. Always something to consider."

"You may have a point. Nothing wrong with…"

"Gentlemen!" The voice caught Peppy and James off guard. They both turned to Zerda Phoenix, who had a beautiful woman at his side and an adorable little girl in a dress. Once Zerda had their attention he moved his paw to his wife and said, "This is Annabelle Marie Phoenix, my bride."

The fennec vixen offered Peppy a shake then James. "Gentlemen, it's a pleasure. Call me Marie."

"Ma'am," said both Peppy and James in unison. James casually reached over with his left paw, snatched the cigar out of Peppy's mouth and stubbed it out with his thumb. He saw Marie's eyes shift. Her ensuing smile caused him to offer one in return. "I apologize, ma'am. He was going to put it out before you arrived but you three caught us off guard." Marie appeared impressed that he managed to put out the hot embers with his thumb without even wincing.

Peppy, trying to use personality to hide embarrassment, knelt in front of the little girl in the Sunday Dress. "And what is _your_ name, young lady?"

She lifted her eyes to her father, who offered a nod of acknowledgement, then she drew in a deep breath and announced, "Fara Marie Phoenix, sir! Are you two going to pilot us back to Corneria?"

Peppy nodded. "You've got it, young lady. We'd be delighted to take the two most lovely ladies in Lylat back home." He offered her a paw. She took his paw with both of her petite, dainty palms and shook his right paw. Peppy stood up and offered a soft smile, charmed by the little girl. "As a father with a daughter, I find your little girl both charming and spirited, Mister Phoenix. We'll get them safely to Corneria in no time, sir."

Zerda knelt to one knee and gave his daughter a hug. They whispered something to one another. Meanwhile, James turned to Peppy and said, "I'm going to call Pigma. If he doesn't show up soon, we're going to run the escort without him."

"You got it, Jim."

Another young man came up from off to the side and shook hands with Annabelle Phoenix. They kissed one another's cheeks then the gentlemanly looking pig folded his hand, offering an almost childish wave to Fara. She reached over her daddy's shoulders to give him a hug but waved at the man over Zerda's shoulder. She then stepped back and Zerda stood up. He kissed his wife then they embraced. "See you soon, Marie. I love you."

"I love you too, Zee. I'm sure the press will just _love_ seeing you ride up to the new ribbon cutting ceremony in that new car."

Zerda grinned. "Yes, well… I've finally chosen a name. The Annabelle Roadster."

She narrowed her gaze at him. "You know I hate that name. Why not use my pen name? I might not be published but I think it's catchy."

The fennec deadpanned at his wife. "Corellium Legend? You really think that would be better?"

She gave her husband a swat on the tail and whispered into his ear. "Just think about it, love." She kissed him on the neck discretely then drew her head back. They brushed their noses together in a charming display of socially acceptable affection then she waved at the metrosexually-dressed pig.

Zerda turned back to James and Peppy. He gestured to his aid. "This is Bosworth. He has impeccable taste, a sharp memory and he's very good with my schedule. My family adores him; he's my most trusted advisor."

"Thank you for your graciousness, Mister Phoenix." He cleared his throat then added, "The Captain is ready for departure at your discretion, sir." He paused for Zerda to finish saying his farewells then they began walking away together. Bosworth continued where the conversation left off. "We'll stop by Papetoon to pick up your prototype sir. What color would you like it to be?"

Zerda's voice faded as they walked together. "My daughter tells me she's quite fond of 'Candy Apple Red' so that's…" They re-entered the private VIP section of the transportation hub. The door slammed shut behind them.

"Can I see your fighters?" asked Fara as soon as her father was no longer within earshot.

Marie looked embarrassed. "Oh, Fara, stop. You know you shouldn't ask such imposing questions; they're professional pilots and don't have time."

James handed Peppy his cell phone. "Call Dengar. If he's not nearly here… well, we won't stall any longer." He then reached for Fara, a natural reaction of any father figure, but then paused and glanced at her mother. "May I?" He waited for her nod of approval then he lifted Fara into his arms. "Y'know, you're about my son's age. His name is Fox McCloud."

"Fox McCloud? Nice name," she said in a slightly quieter voice. "Will he be a pilot one day, too?"

James brimmed with personality. "Oh yes, he is looking forward to it. But you have to start very young to become the best. And don't let _anyone_ tell you that you can't be the best at something. If you know you're good at something, don't give up… you have to trust your instincts and live your dream. I'll show you our fighters. But we can't stay _too long_ because we need to get underway soon. But I think it'll buy us a few extra minutes while we wait for our third pilot to show up."

The quartet walked down a walkway and around the large building. They stepped through a fenced area and out onto a side path. Up ahead was another fenced off section. Just beyond were two sleek M-class fighters. "See? We've modified them so that you won't feel gravity as much as normal."

Fara's eyes widened. She arched her back and craned her neck as if it would somehow allow the toddler to see more. "Wow… maybe one day we'll invent a fighter where you won't feel _any_ gravity. I'm going to be a pilot."

"Oh, Fara…! You know your father would have a breakdown."

The little girl kept her eyes on the two polished fighters just beyond the fence. "Mommy, I'll be safe."

"Fighter pilots aren't exactly known to live safe lives," said Marie with a sigh.

Fara appeared unphased. "Then I'll teach pilots how to be their best. I just want to fly one of _those_," she said, lifting a tiny paw to point at the ships. "Momma, can we go to the Cornerian Air Show this Saturday?"

Marie frowned. "Very well, but you have to be on your best behavior."

A grin formed on James' muzzle. "Hey, I think Peppy is taking his fiancée, Vivian, to that same airshow. Maybe he'll see you guys there or something."

Fara bristled with charming personality. "Maybe so!"

Marie approached the pilot and reached for her daughter, gently prying her from McCloud's arms. "C'mon, young lady. These fine gentlemen have to get ready. Unlike passengers, they have a preflight inspection and all sorts of things to get ready for."

Fara slid into her mother's arms, hooking an arm around the grown woman's neck. "Yes, they have to check their control surfaces, the rudder movements on the ailerons and stabilizers, the elevator movement, position the flaperons for take off. Then they have to check the Altimeter, compass, fuel gauge, Air Speed Indicator, Radio, GPS, their intercom volume settings and frequency settings, contact the tower for takeoff clearance and…"

Marie gently placed a paw over her daughter's muzzle. "She's quite fascinated by anything that flies, which …I dare say… is why her father decided to make his new sports car _hover_."

James was completely charmed again. "Yes, but she's right. She's quite young but she already knows all the steps for a pre-takeoff checklist." He directed his tone to the little girl. "That's very, very impressive! Well… you should go with your mother, now. You can watch us from the window."

Fara smiled then turned to her mother and said, "You can put me down, momma. I'm a big girl; I can walk."

Marie chuckled in spite of herself then put the little girl on the pavement and cleared her throat. "Sorry, Mister McCloud. She's a little bit talkative when it comes to telling people about things that fly."

James grinned. "Well, maybe she's right… maybe she _will_ teach people to fly." He put a paw on her head and fluffed her headfur. "Don't think that a fighter pilot is as glorious as the TV and movies make it sound. It's usually quite boring when doing routine patrols. A teacher gets to run simulations with students and probably has a lot more fun because they're always staying active and doing something or testing new hardware or doing something exciting."

Fara nodded but couldn't take her eyes off the fighters on the other side of the fence. "Then maybe I should be the best teacher out there, since I already know more about these machines than…" again her muzzle was covered by her mother's paw.

Marie mothed the words, '_thank you_' to James, glad he would be so willing to help talk her daughter into something safer like teaching. She cleared her throat then said, "Come along, Fara. They have to get ready."

She sighed. "Yes mother…" They both left, walking back down the path, leaving James and Peppy alone.

Hare closed the cellphone and passed it back to James with a frown. "He said he has a problem with his fighter. He said it didn't pass pre-flight inspection so he couldn't get clearance. It sounded like he was out on the runway now; I could hear a lot of noise in the background. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was already flying but he says he's sitting in his cockpit arguing with the crew chief. I told him not to worry about it. He sounded a little stressed out… almost nervous in a way. Maybe he thought we'd be upset with him for not making it to our first gig. Ah well, more for us."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll hate that, though. What'd he say when you told him not to worry about it?"

Peppy folded his arms. "He sounded relieved. But then he said '_Good Hunting._' Weird, huh?"

James nodded slowly. "Yeah, he never says that. Well, whatever. Let's get ready, huh?" He stepped through the gate, flashing his badge to someone on the right. The two pilots walked in syncopation across the runway, headed for their craft. "Smart little girl. If I was rich enough to hang out in Zerda Phoenix's circle, I'd set up a play date for her and Fox – they'd have a lot to talk about, as much as both knows about fighter craft. Ah well… I'm sure we're too poor for their company."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're probably right." Peppy followed his wing commander out to their ships. "I just hope nothing goes wrong. It'll only be the two of us, after all."

"Just relax. Follow your instincts and we'll survive this battle." James grinned at his joke. "Nah, I'm sure this'll be a boring escort job."

"Your instincts tell you that?"

"Actually, no, my gut _is_ tingling…"

Peppy chuckled and slapped his friend firmly on the shoulder. "That's from all those women who passed us earlier, Jim."

"You're probably right." As they approached the fighters, two men hurried out with rolling stairs.

x-

* * *

**Peppy glanced down** at his instruments then lifted his gaze back to the inky darkness of space. He brought his paw to a button on the side panel of the cockpit. A white LED light illuminated the interior slightly, making it easier to see things. The rabbit set his autopilot controls then reclined his seat just a little bit and pulled out a flat tablet computer. "Nothing like a quiet ride to catch up on a little reading," he mused softly.

James' voice came over the channel, "Now's the time for it, that's for sure."

A slight grin tugged at Hare's maw. He touched the screen and the display changed, resuming where he'd left off in the novel he downloaded last week. His eyes danced across the screen; every so often he used his thumb to flip the digital page.

Meanwhile, in the other fighter, James was using the PDA function of his communicator to play a racing game. He tilted the phone slightly then leaned slightly in his seat, tilting the phone back the other way. Without warning, he jerked the phone to the side then grinned in a rather devious way. "Thought you could pass _me_, did you?" he whispered to himself.

Occasionally, his eyes darted up at the sensor display then returned to the small screen. His heart race quickened and he hunched forward. "Almost there." He began rocking back and forth from side to side, zigzagging his in-game vehicle to keep anyone from passing him in the final stretch. His paws tightened around the device with mild excitement as his racer crossed the finish line in second place.

James thumbed a menu screen, saved his 'career mode' status then put the phone into his right breast pocket and linked his navigation computer with Peppy's fighter. "We're about to head into the asteroid belt. I'll drive the first half – go ahead and read. You drive the second leg and I'll take a nap or something."

"I remember long slow drives like this," said Peppy over the radio. "Going to the beach on a Friday, sitting in traffic on the bridge coming out of the city and putting it into cruise control once we were out on the country roads. It was a good three-hour drive. It's nice to have the chance to catch up on reading."

"Yeah, I feel you. Okay. Entering the Meteo Sector now. I've established control over your ship. We'll switch over at fourteen hundred hours. Remember to give your eyes a break every so often or you'll wind up wearing glasses."

Peppy stretched in his cockpit then said, "You got it." He leaned back in his seat again and thumbed the screen of his tablet computer, switching to the next page in his book.

The next eighty minutes passed in silence. A noise came over the communication line, sounding like a warning tone in James' cockpit. Peppy sat up then the warning alarm in his own cockpit went off. He thumbed the top of the screen, displaying a 'book mark' icon on the screen. He touched a button on the side of the device, suspending it. McCloud's voice came over the line. "I've got some sort of movement with a higher metallic content then the average asteroid. I'm going to release control of your ship; stay with the Star Liner – I'll go and check it out."

Peppy reached down and touched the reclining control for his chair so that he was sitting up straight. "You got it, boss. Going to manual control." He took the flight stick and gave it a slight wiggle to ensure he now had control of his craft.

Peppy cut his eyes to the side, watching as the other M-Class fighter's rear booster brightened. The fighter veered off, disappearing behind a nearby asteroid. The radio crackled with subspace distortion caused by having an enormous metallic rock between their ships. "..Th-… with… re-… -sh- …-ck…"

"Ten-nine; did _not_ copy your last transmission, Jim."

An M-Class fighter came back from behind the asteroid at full boost. Several seconds later, a line of metallic objects moved from behind the asteroid in pursuit. Several split off towards the transporter, a few remained behind James and several broke formation to head towards Peppy's ship.

"Oh _great_." Hare thumbed a plastic clear case from overtop of a button on his dash then pressed it firmly. His HUD's user interface changed dramatically and his weapons and shields came online. Red dots flooded his sensor scope. Peppy slid the tablet off his lap and into a netted pocket by his legs. The netting automatically tightened around the object, sensing something placed within it. Hare took the controls in his paws and hit the boost.

His ship moved to intercept the fighters headed for the Star Liner. Hare opened a channel to the larger ship. "We have bandits inbound – they're coming in hot. Keep your course, do not deviate unless ordered to do so."

A reply came over the line. "Acknowledged, Galaxy Dog – we have limited defense turrets."

"Yeah, ten four; I know y'do." Peppy came about, getting behind one of the attacking ships. He opened fire just as one of the enemy fighters opened their guns on him. Peppy turned sideways by adjusting the control on his flight stick. Several rounds passed above and below him. "Bandits are engaging; returning fire." His ship's guns struck the aft compartment of a nearby target. Two more shots destroyed the enemy. "Jim, I don't see any markings on these hostiles."

"Yeah, they must be pirates or something." He changed his tone and continued to speak, "Incoming hostile fighters, _identify yourselves_ immediately! This is James McCloud of the mercenary squadron Galaxy Dog. We're on a peaceful escort mission and demand you to break off your attack immediately or we will be forced to respond with deadly force!"

"Too late," said Peppy, shooting down another fighter. "They already opened fire on me. I'm forced to engage!"

"Stay close to the ship," James replied. He rolled out of the way then performed a half loop, rolled over and went back the other way to chase an enemy that passed by. He opened fire without delay, ripping into the engine casing of a hostile. The enemy ship collided with another, destroying both. "Two for one special!"

"Ah hell!" Peppy pulled up then abruptly dove but couldn't shake an enemy on his tail. "Help me out, Jim! This guy has lock!"

James came about, using his left paw to redirect energy to the shield emitters on the front belly of his fighter. He purposely struck an asteroid at a shallow angle, deflecting himself back up to get behind Peppy. The fighter that was previously following James clipped its wing on the asteroid, unable to pull away in time. It spun out of control then struck another asteroid in the distance and exploded.

The fox's left paw moved gracefully over his control panel, hitting "reset 001" on the keypad. His shielding returned to default parameters. Meanwhile, his right paw clenched the flight stick firmly. His thumb came down on the firing button, opening up on the enemy now between himself and his wingmate. The fighter burst apart, it's explosive flames immediately dissipated without oxygen to fuel the fires. McCloud's fighter blew through the debris, scattering it in all directions.

"Thanks for the assist back there!"

"You can return the favor for my son if we ever wind up flying together as a team," said James with a grin.

"If he's as good as you are, he'll be the one helping _me_," Peppy replied in a humble tone.

"Don't ingratiate yourself. I no longer have the authority to promote anyone," said James with a chuckle.

"Oh hell, Jim, it's not like I asked to buy you a beer. Okay – I count sixteen total bogeys."

"We're taking fire, Galaxy Dog!" The voice was younger than whoever was broadcasting from the transport ship before.

James came back around, splitting from Peppy's vector. "You sound young, kid. Is everything alright over there?"

"Negative sir," said the teenage boy. "We need to bugout! Our communication's officer was killed from a bulkhead collapse. We have casualties all over the ship; I'm not sure if I know all the proper military lingo but I have a group moving in azimuth – one large group on two separate headings. Looks like six going at Angels-five off the port bow and the other group of five is now starting to change their bearing. Uhm, we're at flank speed… or, uh, buster I think is what you guys call it."

"Calm down, son," James said, heading back towards the Star Liner. "Practice your brevity. What's your name, kid?"

"Chester, sir. I'm at this station because it was unmanned, sir."

"Stay calm. Tell the helmsman to keep flying the ship and let us do our job." James cut his gaze to the left, seeing the regrouped fighters splitting back apart. His eyes widened, seeing a shuttle come out from behind an asteroid. "Peppy! They're trying to board the frickin' ship!"

"What?"

James opened fire on the shuttle but incoming fighters moved into position, trying to absorb McCloud's blaster fire. The shuttle slammed into the Star Liner, scraping its belly against the larger ship's backside. It came to a halt overtop of an airlock. "I'm going to try and shoot the flea off that dog's back."

McCloud rolled, zigged and zagged in an attempt to circumvent the enemy fighters but they came into his path again, causing him to veer away to avoid a collision. The young feline's voice returned to the channel. "This is Chester, we have reports of attackers! There's a boarding party and they're heavily armed! Five or six lizards and apes! They're trying to get access to the bridge!"

The fox groaned, pounding his left fist against the canopy. "Dammit! Peppy, is there someway one of us can get on board that damn ship and stop these guys? We'll need one of us to stay out here."

"Let me do this, Jim. I can handle it. I have an idea."

"How you're going to do it? I'll keep them off your tail but… you don't have an EVO suit."

"Just… watch and learn." Peppy changed his shield emitter output, came around and literally drove his fighter into the lower hold, breaching the hull. James' eyes widened, watching his friend make such a bold maneuver. Meanwhile, Hare's fighter crashed through the wall. Once the cockpit passed through the bulkhead, he cut his engines and expanded his shield to create an ovular shaped bubble to extend the false environment around his fighter. He moved power to his retro-reverse rockets but didn't yet initiate them. Peppy opened the canopy then hopped out, making sure to stay in the confines of the shield bubble.

The automatic airlock bulkhead seal was in place at the other end of the secondary hold. Peppy approached the control panel in the bulkhead and opened it then pulled down on the manual override lever. The blast door opened barely half a meter apart, just enough for him to squeeze through.

Peppy drew his sidearm and hurried into a hallway with a conveyer belt along the wall. He skidded to a halt in front of a cargo elevator but the call button was unresponsive. "Don't get discouraged now," he told himself. The rabbit shot an access panel off the wall then dove into the maintenance tube and started crawling. Before long, he came to a ladder and began climbing. Peppy proceeded up the long ladder, occasionally passing deck stickers. Having started at 'deck 16', he continued to climb until passing 'deck 7.' Peppy put his weapon into the holster, finally, gave his right paw a firm shake then pulled out his communicator. "Jim, what bridge is the deck located on?"

Jim relayed the communication to Chester, who replied, "Deck five, sir. Please, hurry, they're using a cutting tool to get through the seal. They've hit most of our major systems except for our engines. The Captain seems to think that they want to take over the ship and use everyone as hostages."

"Did you get that Peppy? Deck five. Try and be quick, they're _everywhere_ out here."

Peppy swallowed and started moving upwards one more. "You got it." He glanced down between his legs at the nine-story drop then looked back up and started climbing again.

Chester's teenage voice returned to the channel. "They appear to have given up on the bridge. The Captain fears they may simply grab hostages and return to their shuttle. What is it that you're planning? We don't know how much longer we can make it – our shields are down, our hull plating is depolarized and we have a breech in our secondary hold. Thee, uh, the alarm for the airlock blast door was tripped but the computer says it's been resealed. We can't spare the crew members to verify it, though."

James frowned, jerking from left to right on his control stick. "Kid, don't worry yourself about the hull breech. I've got a plan and that's part of the plan. Just hang tight." McCloud pulled back on the controls, performed a tight loop then got behind two enemies and blasted their aft section until both exploded. "Peppy, how're you doing in there? The kid says they're giving up on breaking into the bridge. But they'd still be on that deck."

"Almost got it, Jim." Peppy passed the fifth deck label. He reached to his right and turned a lever on the backside of a panel then let himself out of the maintenance shaft, spilling onto the carpet. He replaced the panel, got to his feet and withdrew his pistol. "I'm on deck five. No contact, no civilians."

"Dammit," McCloud muttered under his breath. "I've got pockmarks on my flippin' ship. Some of the fighters out here must be running low on energy cells because they've reverted to using projectiles. I think it's velocity rounds… one of those sixteen millimeter slugs Venom was fond of in the old days. If these guys really _are_ pirates, they're using equipment stolen from Eli's first wave military supplies."

"Doctor Andross likes putting logos on the side of his technology, though," Peppy said. "I'll let you know if they have uniforms when I find one of these guys."

"Peppy…" James sighed. He paused to use a volley of blaster fire to chase enemies away from the Star Liner then said, "Don't get yourself killed in there. You're my best friend, man. You're my son's godfather, my best man… Don't let them get the drop on you."

"Stop worrying, would'ja?" Peppy replied in a chastising voice. "Okay…" his tone grew quieter, "I see… looks like four enemies together and a fifth one is trying to… have mercy – they're cornering the little girl and her mother. Stand by."

"Peppy, wait, do you have a game plan?" No response. "Peppy?"

James growled softly, gnashing his teeth together. "Peppy, don't you die in there. Follow your heart and follow your instincts, man. Don't you make me be the one to call Vivian, I mean it."

"Jim!" Peppy's voice was stern and sharp. His tone softened and he added," I didn't know you cared so much. Just relax and 10-3." Hare peered around the corner again, looking into a room where the citizens were huddled together. There were banquet tables on their sides and chairs strewn about the hall. All the people were on the floor. A section of the bulkhead had collapsed and the little girl appeared to be standing in front of it, looking quite defiant and brave for her age. Two apes and three lizards had the room covered. Someone begged not to be shot and another person was weeping.

Peppy looked down at his blaster then looked up again, counting all the energy blasters. One guard had a rifle on his shoulder and held two handguns. Another guard was holding a pulse rifle, with two pistols on his hips. All of them were heavily armed with energy weapons.

His eyes danced along the left wall then the right, counting the amount of civilians. "This isn't going to go well," he whispered to himself. One of the apes shifted a bit, giving Peppy a clear line of sight to what appeared to be a woman trapped by the collapsed bulkhead. Peppy gasped. "Mrs. Phoenix," he said softly. "This is turning out to be a mess."

"What's that? I didn't quite making out what you said," James replied over the radio.

"Nevermind. Remind me to throttle Pigma when we get home. If he was here, none of this would have happened. Time for a little 'CQC' but not to worry… I'll be fine." Peppy picked up a small piece of debris and tossed it up the hallway with a lot of force so that it would make noise. The soldiers noticed.

Three of them left the grand hall to investigate. The rabbit waited until they turned the corner and moved out of the view of their teammates then he took a maintenance hatch off the wall silently, came up behind one of the soldiers and brought it down on his head with all the strength he could muster. It smashed the man's head in, killing him instantly.

The two pirates opened fire on Peppy but the rabbit moved with the falling body and kept a tight hold on the maintenance hatch. He jumped back to his feet, throwing the hatch at one and snatching a fire extinguisher off the wall with his other paw. He captured the red cylinder on an upswing of his right paw, the follow-through brought the extinguisher off its hook and upwards into the jaw of the third attacker.

The guy who had been hit in the face by the hatch panel got to his feet and withdrew his rifle. He was the last of the three. Peppy stepped forward so that they were too close for the man to have proper spacing for his rifle to be useful. The rabbit grabbed the weapon, tilted it and shoved it upwards, striking the man in the face with the buttstock. The lizard's nose shattered and a tooth went bouncing across the deck.

Peppy pivoted hard, spiraled about and delivered a roundhouse kick directly to the man's face, breaking his jaw. As the lizard went back, Peppy realized he was now holding the rifle in his left hand. He came out of the smooth kick, opened his stance and flipped the rifle about then fired on all three lizards, killing them instantly.

With a nerve-wracking shout, meant to confuse and disorient, he ran into the room, firing on the two remaining pirates. The lizard and ape went to the floor with riddled with several holes. They died on the spot, lying in a pool of blood, which created a circular puddle beneath their bodies.

Young Fara looked down at them and swallowed as if unable to comprehend what she just saw. Peppy hopped over one of the bodies and came to Marie Phoenix, half crushed in the wall. "Good God, Mrs. Phoenix, I need you to hang in there and I'll get you out of there."

The woman looked up at Peppy with sad, forlorn eyes and frowned. "I'm unable to feel my legs… Get my daughter to safety."

"You'll live, just hold on." He threw the rifle down next to one of the dead attackers and put his paws beneath part of the fallen bulkhead and grunted. He grit his teeth together, belt his knees and kept his back straight but the wall was beyond what he could lift. Peppy turned around and picked up the rifle. He pulled the fuel cell then jammed the buttstock into the crack adjacent to her body then called over another man. The large bodied equine hurried over to help. The two of them used the rifle as a lever to wedge the bulkhead apart.

Fara backed away, paw over her muzzle, watching as they worked to try and save her mother. She bucked into a dead lizard, tripped over him and fell unceremoniously to her backside. The little girl was shocked into silence, horrified that she'd touched a dead reptile's body, let alone that she'd fallen over it.

Peppy and the Clydesdale horse worked together to lift a section of the bulkhead. Peppy thrust his left paw forth, took her by the wrist and started pulling her free, slowly but surely.

Quite suddenly, the horse hit the wall, leaving a slight bloodstain where his nose hit the surface. He slumped to the floor, dazed and severely injured. Peppy was struck by the butt of a rifle and spun about, slumping down next to where Mrs. Phoenix was again crushed by the crumpled bulkhead.

When Peppy opened his eyes, a weapon was pointed in the rabbit's face, causing his eyes to cross. His eyes shifted, moving up along the barrel to a female lizard, holding the weapon. She had a different color vest on, denoting her superior rank. She hissed softly then carefully formed a Corneria word. "Up."

Peppy put his back against the crumpled bulkhead and put his right paw on Marie's wrist. He felt for a pulse as he slowly rose to his feet. It was beyond faint. He could feel it against his fingers but she couldn't survive being crushed a second time. The rabbit tightened his jaw so as not to show any fear. He kept his back against the stacked debris and breathed calmly. However, his heart was racing. Slowly, his paws lifted. "I need to save this woman. That's what we were doing, here. The only way I could get to her was to attack your men."

Again, she hissed. Her tongue flickered outwards like that of a snake. She used it to sense the immediate area then her hiss melted into more Cornerian words. "Ssstupid male, she will _not_ s-s-survive."

Marie's slumped form trembled. Her labored breathing was chorused by gurgling. Her eyes opened in a half-lidded state and she mouthed the words, "I love you," to the ten year old girl against the other wall. One eye shut, the other one did not.

Peppy took a step forward to test his boundaries but the reptile shoved him back, using the barrel of her rifle. "You're a hostage now. But if you resist, I will kill you and choose another. I'll take two more, _and_ the child. Yesss, I came here for the woman in the wall but will s-s-settle for her daughter."

"She can still be saved!" Peppy argued. "LET me HELP HER!"

The reptile turned the weapon about, striking Peppy in the face with the butt. He hit his head against the metallic stacked accordion-like bulkhead behind him and groaned. She put the rifle beneath his jaw and used it to choke him. Peppy brought his paws up to try and push the rifle's elongated body away from his neck but his arms were bent and hers were straight, allowing her to have the upper hand.

"I think I shall watch the life drain from _both_ your eyesss, pilot! Then I will take the res-s-st with _me_ to fetch a good price on the s-s-s-slaving market. You had your chance to cooperate, now it's time for you to die!"

"NO!" The little voice was full of anger. A blaster shot rang out and Peppy watched in horror as the reptile's face dissolved from the inside-out. Light filled her nose and mouth and her eyes melted and became cloudy. Her facial cavity began to sink in on itself from the heat. The disturbing image continued to mutate, playing out slowly in the lengthy two-second duration. Blood bubbled up from the reptile's eyes, ears, nose and mouth but only dribbled down a little bit before the flow stopped, congealed from the heat of the blaster discharge. Hare couldn't look away fast enough.

As the body fell, the rifle came away from his throat allowing him to gasp for breath. The lizard dropped to the floor then flopped over onto its left side. Behind the reptile was a little fennec vixen with a blaster pistol, taken from a dead enemy on the carpet.

All at once, Peppy's senses and instincts returned. His mind cleared from the adrenaline and the sensation of mental shock concluded. He stepped over the final attacker's body, carefully snatched the weapon from Fara Phoenix's paws and quickly switched on the safety. He began to reach for her but she ducked his paws and hurried to her mother.

Peppy turned around, holstered the weapon in his belt then lowered to one knee and checked Marie's pulse again. Her left eye was pointed away from her nose and her right eye was shut. Not wanting the little girl to see such a thing, he quickly put his paw over Marie's face and slid his palm downwards. Both eyes were shut when he drew his paw back.

"Fara, I'm so sorry about your mother."

The little girl brought her left paw to her face and gestured for him to step back by thrusting her right paw outwards. She then brought her right paw forth and took her mother's forearm, just holding it in silence. Marie didn't move.

One of the civilian females who saw everything hiked her dress hem up and hurried over then reached for Fara. "Oh sweetie, let me take you to your father and we can…"

Fara jerked away from the woman and practically dove behind Peppy to hide. He pressed her face against his hip, keeping him between herself and the other woman.

"But, sweetie, I know your daddy. I can help take you to him!" The woman in the fancy ball gown took a step forward but Fara clung to Peppy even tighter.

Peppy looked down at the little girl then back up at the lady in the blue dress. "Miss, she's been through a lot. I'll stay aboard until we reach the next Star Port, then I'll make sure Fara Phoenix is returned to her father. But I appreciate your concern."

The woman looked back at the young girl then at Peppy. She looked around the room again then said, "If you change your mind, darling, let me know." Then she quickly left the area to get away from the chaos.

Hare's radio chirped, followed by James' voice. "What's going on in there? The fighters are bugging out; there's still five left but my shields are at forty percent. You all right?"

"Yeah, Jim," said Peppy into his communicator with a sigh. "But Annabelle Marie Phoenix isn't. I have Fara with me now. We need to get back to the nearest spaceport because we can't enter the atmosphere with a hole in the lower hold. Then we'll wait until we're on Corneria and… it's a mess over here, Jimmy." His voice was sullen sounding.

"Peppy… are you hurt? How's the little girl?"

"We'll make it." His eyes flitted back to the woman half hanging out of the crumpled wall. "James… Marie didn't."

"Do whatever you can for them. This isn't over until we see Zerda Phoenix and ensure that they're safe. Corneria is still about ninety minutes away if the Star Liner continues at this speed. I'll try and get a message through to Bosworth. Worst comes to worst, we'll watch over her until he can charter a flight back to Corneria. Stay over there for now and do what you can to help restore some sort of… just do what you can."

"What about the teenager on the bridge? Have we heard anything?"

James cleared his throat. "Peppy, there were injuries on the bridge. You've been trained in emergency response, so head there next and assess some sort of damage control, report to me on the casualties and if there's any serious damage that we should know about. But first, get a team together and get Mrs. Phoenix to sickbay. You know what to do."

"Yeah, Jim. I do. Peppy out." He closed the channel then picked up Fara in his arms. She didn't say a word; she just pushed her face into his shoulder and hid there for now.

x-

* * *

**Zerda Phoenix opened his arms to his daughter.** The trembling little girl looked up from the rabbit's neck, hearing her father's voice. Fara leapt from Peppy's embrace and dashed into Zerda's arms. She sobbed softly and he quickly hid her face into his collarbone. Zerda took a long, deep breath and, in a reverent voice, asked, "What happened?"

James swallowed, fighting embarrassment and shame. "We were attacked sir. The pirates wanted to take your family for ransom and they boarded the transport ship. There were a lot of them. I ordered Peppy to find a way to try and dock against the airlock and break into the ship – it was dangerous. I was without a third wingman, but I couldn't leave Peppy out there against over a dozen ships by himself…"

"Mister Hare?" Zerda asked.

"Yes, sir, Mister Phoenix. I told James I could handle it. I hurried into the corridor and made my way to the passenger section. It wasn't hard to find your family, the lizards got there first. I had to fight them, sir. It's all in my written report."

"I'd like to hear your side of it. I'm not quite ready to read the report yet."

Peppy nodded and swallowed. "Well, Mister Phoenix… Your wife was gravely injured from a buckling bulkhead. I was up against several opponents and when I thought the area was clear, I tried to rescue Mrs. Phoenix. I lifted the bulkhead a little bit and she started to wiggle free but then I was attacked from behind by another lizard who was hiding or… I didn't see them during the fight. It caused me to drop the bulkhead. Then…" Peppy swallowed again.

"Go on, please…"

Peppy glanced at Fara then back at her father. "I was knocked to the floor and the raider put a gun in my face. Your daughter picked up a weapon from one of the fallen pirates and shot the lizard who had me at gunpoint. I got up, took the gun away from her and switched it to 'safety.' Then I turned back to Mrs. Phoenix but she was… gone. I'm sorry, Mister Phoenix. I think it was my fault. If I hadn't dropped the bulkhead, she might have…"

"No. Please, Mister Hare, don't blame yourself. You were attacked from behind. That was a cowardly act. I blame the pirates." He placed his daughter on his hip and turned to face her directly. In a soft voice, he said, "I'm very proud of you for doing the right thing… But I need to remind you that guns are dangerous." Zerda swallowed then looked back to James and Peppy. "You've saved my daughter's life. Without your hard work, she would have taken and held as a captive. And god knows what they might have done to her. I'm just... besides myself."

"Sir, if there's _anything_ we can do." James knew what the man was going through. He took a deep breath then folded his paws. "My wife was killed in an explosion. I'm a single father. If you need anyone to talk to… you can count on me, sir. I, uh…" He was grasping as straws now, "Fara said she was going to the flight show on Corneria this weekend… Peppy is going wit his fiancée. Maybe, uh, if you need a day alone to… you know… just a private day… Peppy could take her. I know this is awkward. But the offer stands just the same."

Fara looked up and, for the first time since pulling the trigger on that blaster, she said, in a quiet voice, "Momma would have wanted to see that." Her ears lifted slightly, no longer touching her shoulders.

Zerda looked down at her then back at Peppy and nodded. "I'll have Mister Bosworth make arrangements. We'll be staying on Corneria for now. For the sake of professionalism, let's make this a one time thing." He bit his lip then added, "But at least I know she'll be safe and in good paws."

"Yes sir, Vivian and I will make sure she's safe and has a good time. I promise."

Zerda looked like he was trying to hold himself together but it was apparent that it was becoming increasingly difficult. He nodded to Peppy's words then said, "If you'll both excuse me… I… I think we need time alone, now."

James nodded respectfully. "Completely understood, Mister Phoenix. Normally I would tell a client if you ever need Galaxy Dog's services again to call us anytime. But I feel so ashamed that Mrs. Phoenix didn't survive this attack."

"Mister McCloud… it's not your fault."

"Just the same, the name of the unit feels tainted now. I suppose it doesn't much matter since we were trying to think of a new name but… I'm deeply sorry. Like I said, my wife was killed and I understand what you're going through and how hard this must be."

Zerda looked down again. "I've decided to name the new sports car the Corellium Legend, just like she wanted." His eyes lifted but his muzzle stayed pointed downward. "What's your son's name?"

"Fox, sir."

Zerda nodded with a slight smile. "Reinvent yourselves and put this attack in the past. Call your group something that would honor your wife's greatest creation…" Phoenix switched his little girl to his other hip then said, "Studies show the word 'Star' has a unique effect on the psyche of people. It's why I chose to call our transporter ships, 'Star Liners'. If I may… call your mercenary unit _Star Fox_. I would be honored to hire your group again in the future; you've saved the life of my daughter and jeopardized your own lives to try and save my wife. But don't be offended if I never call… I've decided to employ a new tactic to keep my family safe."

"Sir?" James tilted his head.

"I'll be conducting my business without my family. Fara has had her heart set on becoming a pilot as a hobby. I'll let her take flight classes, here on Corneria. That way when I have to go on a business trip, I know she'll be safe on the planet, protected by the Cornerian Air Guard defense perimeter. I'll never put my family at risk, ever again. A ten year old girl has no place out in an asteroid belt – I should have known better." He tried to offer a weak smile. "What do you think of my idea for your team?"

"Star Fox. I'll pay for the trademark rights with the paycheck from today, sir."

Zerda placed his free paw on James' wrist. "No need. It would be my honor to take care of that for you. I'll have Bosworth contact you when it's finished and I'll put everything in your name. It's the least I can do; you've saved my daughter."

Peppy folded his paws reverently. "Well, your daughter saved _me_, sir. So…" He approached the little girl on Zerda's left hip. "If I can ever return the favor, I promise I'll be _right there_."

She nodded then hid her face back into her father's shoulder again. Mister Phoenix shook paws with Peppy then James. "Thank you again. Bosworth will be in contact about the flight show next weekend." He turned about and began walking away. Bosworth offered to take the little girl but at the time she refused to let anyone else hold her. The trio walked back into the Cornerian Transportation hub's VIP section and disappeared.

Peppy turned to James. "Star Fox, huh? I think even Pigma would like it… it, uh, has the word 'star' in it."

"Yeah." James glanced back at the floor. "I didn't mention this earlier… and don't tell Pigma because he'll be weird about the money… but Phoenix transferred _double_ the original amount into our account."

"…Wow. With that much money, we could afford to put a larger down payment on the GreatFox."

James nodded sullenly. "Yeah… I could afford to buy a large life insurance policy. If something happened to _me_, I would want Fox to have a comfortable life, be able to pay off the GreatFox and do whatever he wants with his life."

"A life insurance policy is always a manly thing to have for your family… but I have another good idea."

"Yeah?"

"You'll now have the money to put Fox through the academy sooner. There's a gifted and talented class that starts with twelve year olds. We could get him a few classes before he's old enough to go through basic."

A hint of a grin touched the corner of his mouth. "Yeah. I bet he'd love to know what it's like on a gravity simulator, or to hang inverted in the anti-grav rings. This will give me the chance to bond with my son a little better."

"Let's go home, Jim. You look like you could use a drink and I know just the thing." His eyes lifted to the sky with a sigh.

x-

* * *

**"What happened after that?"** asked Lucy.

Peppy chuckled and rubbed at his aged face. "Well, I took Fara Phoenix to the air show. Vivian was so charmed by this little girl that she told me she was ready to be a wife and a mother just a few weeks later. Your oldest brother came about a year later.

"How did Fara handle the death of her mother? How'd the air show go?"

Peppy chuckled softly. "Well, for starters, I took her everywhere that day. I talked my way into getting her the chance to sit up in the cockpit of several fighters on display. Then, after that day… I didn't see her again until she was all grown up. Nineteen years old, Chief Test Pilot for Corneria's Research and Development with a high level security clearance. She was so enamored with Fox that she didn't even recognize me. We talked, later, and she became interested in Fox's family when she realized who I was and that she'd briefly met James in the past. Shortly after that, she started asking Fox more questions about his folks… then she found the dress… Fox got a wild hair up his tail and asked her to try it on… Save for the ears, there was an eerie resemblance to Vixy McCloud and when Fara went MIA, presumed KIA, it _really_ messed Fox's head up – he said he'd never let another person wear that dress ever again. He claimed that anyone who wore it would surely die or some such. He hid it away, Miyu and Krystal never even laid eyes on it. He kept it hidden. Maybe that's part of the reason he felt so uncomfortable about you having found it."

"Oh… I see."

Peppy continued. "So far as how she handled the death of her mother… she actually handled it far more gracefully than Fox handled the death of his own mother. When Fox lost his parents, he felt all out of sorts. He and Fara grew close and, perhaps, it's because they had so much in common – they were akin to one another and so they helped each other heal and cope with their past… but when I saw Fara again, all those years later, even though I immediately recognized her, she was completely different. Confident, sure of herself, beautiful and strong of will and character. She had a lot of personality. You know what they say, sweetie… little girls need their daddies… little boys need their mothers. We're just… hard wired to work together that way."

"I understand, Papa. Did you ever find out what happened to Pigma that day?"

Peppy's eyes became cold. He narrowed his gaze and tightened his jaw. "We didn't find out until Pigma betrayed us over Venom when he decided to gloat… but he sold us out. He went to a group of simian pirates and told them where Zerda Phoenix would be and how to attack, how to split us up for more effectiveness… and suggested they take the wife and daughter of Zerda Phoenix as hostage to receive a large ransom demand. That sniveling, worthless piece of bacon is the reason Fara's mother was killed… _No_, I never told her that. It wasn't my place. …And now it's too late because Fara is gone. And I never told Fox, either, because Pigma's betrayal is a sore subject for him… his father was killed because of that man. I didn't want him going out and hunting for Pigma and getting himself killed. So keep that between us for now."

Lucy nodded. "Of course, Papa. Can I get you anything?"

Peppy cleared his throat into his paw then his eyes landed on a display case mounted on the far bulkhead. He bit his lip then looked back at his daughter then back at the display case. "How… how about one of _those_?" He pointed to the display case.

"A cigar, Papa? It's been years, hasn't it?"

Peppy chuckled. "Your mother would kick my tail."

Lucy stood up, walked to the wall and opened the case then removed a small box. She brought it to him, opened the top and let him pick on out. Then she carried the case back to the environmentally sealed display case. She closed it and brought a small box of matches to him. She glanced out the window to the heavens. "I won't tell her. It'll be our secret." She passed him the cutting tool then took it back after he snipped one end.

They offered a quiet smile to one another. Peppy lit the match off of his other palm with a wince. He saw the concern on Lucy's face then grinned weakly in reply. "Heh. I still got it." He brought the match to his cigar and took a deep breath with a sigh of what sounded like content.

x-

* * *

A/N: _SURPRISE! Chapter FIVE of Reflections of Peppy! xD Now to get back to Reflections of Marcus. Just thought I'd hit you guys with a curve ball to keep you on your toes. So there you go… another anecdote told by old man Peppy that shows us another yester-year moment in the history of Star Fox._

_-Me_


End file.
